Until the End of the World
by therockstar2005
Summary: “You said you’d wait until the end of the world.” A TT fanfic using U2 songs as chapters and references. What will happen to the Titans when their relationships begin to change, all while trying to still be heroes? BBRae, some RobStar, less CyBe
1. The Fly

Ok, so this is my first Teen Titans fanfic. As it said, I'm using U2 songs as reference for the titles of the chapters, because I like U2 and they seem to fit. Please note there is also some humor in this story, so if you don't like humor, I would recommend War and Peace. Good novel. I don't own anything, so don't sue me. I do have more chapters, so I will update soon. Please let me know what you think, and thanks for reading.

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_Chapter 1: The Fly_

It had been a long time coming. This prank of his was doomed to succeed, as he liked to think of it. After all, Cyborg had been getting off far too easy as of late, and so now it was finally time for Beast Boy to return as the master prankster of Titans Tower.

As long as it all went off without a hitch, of course…

It was early in the morning, and while usually Beast Boy would have been sound asleep at this point, he was far too excited to be asleep now. He had been planning this prank since last week, and spent all night preparing it, and so he wanted to see it through. So he continued to pace around the common room while the hamster wheel in his head continued to spin over the great prank that would soon take place.

_He he he he...All of my hard work will soon pay off! I just can't wait to see the look on Cyborg's face. He thinks he's the master around here? Just wait, I'll show HIM who the master prankster is!_

And soon it was 7:30 when Beast Boy finally heard a noise.

_Wait a minute! Cyborg isn't up THIS early!!!_

Beast Boy suddenly became alarmed that his prank was in serious jeopardy, and he didn't want anyone to know that he had been up so early, because they would certainly question it.

_I need to hide!!! But where?_

Well, Beast Boy didn't have much time to decide, for he could hear the footsteps getting closer. So he decided to do the only thing he could think of. He turned into a fly and buzzed off to the ceiling. He barely made it out of sight when he heard the doors opening.

It was Raven. _Oh man, I hope she didn't see me._

But luckily for Beast Boy, Raven merely floated over in front of the window and began to meditate, and the fly was able to avoid certain doom.

_Phew, well I guess I won't have to worry about her_.

But now another problem set in for Beast Boy. Within a minute of listening to Raven meditate, he became incredibly bored.

_Man...Am I just gonna have to sit here and wait all morning? Damn it, Cyborg! Wake up already and get what's coming to ya!_

Even though the Titans had all grown up some, as they were all 18 now save Cyborg, who was 19 and liked to lord it over the others, Beast Boy was still Beast Boy and still grew readily impatient. So he decided to kill some time and fly around the tower for a while.

He flew past Raven's room, which was still off limits to everyone except for Starfire, and even then only when Raven invited her in. Beast Boy was tempted to fly under the door, but decided against it. _I'll save that for another time. Besides, the prank I've got set up will still be perfect._

He then buzzed past Starfire's room. After all this time on Earth, she still had not changed much. She had certainly become more accustomed to Earth and its ways, but she managed to maintain much of her innocence still. Beast Boy was surprised with how often she was now able to make jokes that were actually funny…and in English.

He then flew by Robin's room. Robin for the most part hadn't changed much either, which tended to annoy the rest of the team sometimes. He was still the leader and still continued to focus more on business like he always did. Even though he and Starfire were going out, it never seemed to be a true "relationship," like Beast Boy thought of it. Star simply wanted to be with Robin, but he always seemed so caught up in his work that he never let her in.

_Oh I pray that I never do something like that_ Beast Boy thought to himself.

Finally he flew by Cyborg's room. _Ah, the sleeping victim! Soon, yes very soon, your time will come Cy! Better wake up before someone else..._

And then Beast Boy had a very dangerous thought.

_YIPE!!! WHAT IF RAVEN OPENS UP THE FRIDGE BEFORE CY DOES!!!_

And with that the fly buzzed back to the common room as fast as he could fly.

_Oh man! Oh please, please, please, don't open the fridge Rae! Oh I am gonna be so dead! Please, please, please, PLEASE!!!_

But luckily for the fly, when he got back into the room, Raven was still meditating over by the windows.

_PHEW!!! Man Raven, is that all you can do all day is sit there and meditate???_

Raven had grown too, like the rest of the Titans, but she was still the smallest member on the team. Beast Boy, in fact, had hit a good growth spurt and was now about as tall as Starfire. Raven had also begun to show a bit more emotion, but she was still cautious about displaying emotion. And Beast Boy still continued to push her buttons, but as they had gotten older she seemed to have less patience with him.

_Jeez Raven, you'd figure with all the time you spend by yourself that you wouldn't have to meditate so much._

It was true. Raven did wind up spending more time locked away in her room as time had gone on. Beast Boy hated this for two reasons: one, because he was sure she was doing it to avoid him; and two, secretly, because he liked having her around, which he didn't even like admitting to himself.

_Man, I hope she doesn't get to the kitchen before Cy does. Why does she need to meditate so much anyway? What good does she do just sitting there looking so cute...um, I mean sitting there?!?! Ha ha...I mean its not like I find her attractive or something...but she's not ugly...damn brain, why do you have to mess with me like this? For the thousandth time, I don't love her...LIKE her, like her...damn it Beast Boy!_ But before his mental train could continue running off the rails, he noticed that Raven stopped meditating.

_Finally, about damn time!_

And then she turned and went into the kitchen.

_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!_ Beast Boy suddenly took off towards the kitchen and was about to change when...

Raven merely poured herself a cup of tea and went back to the couch and sat down.

_AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!! I'm going to have a heart attack waiting for this! Come on Cy! Get your lazy metal butt up here!!!_

Well, Beast Boy's prayers were about to be answered, as Robin strolled in, with Starfire closely behind.

"Good morning, friend Raven," Star exclaimed, while Raven nodded her response. "Is friend Cyborg coming, Robin?"

"He should be along any minute now; I just knocked on his door so he should be on his way." Beast Boy leapt for joy, or at least as much as a fly could, and buzzed out the door to change back.

"Should we not get friend Beast Boy up as well, Robin?" Star asked again.

"GOOOOD Morning Titans!" exclaimed Beast Boy, as if on cue. "What's happening?"

"Oh, you are awake Beast Boy!" said Star.

"Yeah, and awake EARLY," noted Robin.

Raven looked confused as well. "What drugs are you on this morning?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Beast Boy, "I'm not on any drugs…anymore. I'm just excited for this gorgeous day! Isn't it a gorgeous day?"

"Sure," muttered Raven.

Cyborg finally entered the room as well. "Morning, y'all. Crap! BB, you're awake?"

Beast Boy was insulted. "Why is everyone so surprised that I might actually be awake early for once?"

"Cause you never are?" asked Starfire innocently.

"She's got a point BB," said Cyborg, with Robin and Raven nodding in agreement.

Dejectedly, Beast Boy mumbled "Let's just get breakfast going, huh Cyborg?"

At this the half-robotic Titan smiled and said "Don't you worry about that BB! I've got a big breakfast planned with bacon and eggs and all kinds of crap that you won't eat."

"Great," Beast Boy replied, trying his best to hide his anticipated laughter.

"Let's just go and get the stuff from the fridge and.."

SPLAT!

As soon as Cyborg had opened the door, Beast Boy's prank went off and the pie he had loaded in the fridge beforehand flew right into Cyborg's face. Beast Boy immediately burst out laughing, and Robin soon joined in. Raven merely shook her head, though did think it was funny, she also knew instantly who had done it. Starfire was confused, though.

"I do not understand. Mustn't we first cut the pie into pieces before eating it so that we may all share?"

"I think this pie was meant only for me Star," Cyborg coolly responded. He then looked over at Beast Boy. "I take it this is your work?"

Beast Boy tried to look innocent while holding his laughter in. "Um…maybe???"

Cyborg started to clean his face off and eat some of what was left of the pie. "Come on man; that was totally weak. It's just a pie, and it doesn't even taste that bad. What's in this thing anyhow?"

Beast Boy, still suppressing laughter, walked over to Cyborg and said, "Well, Cy, there's a lot of good ingredients in that pie…" and slyly added as Cyborg swallowed another bite, "but mostly tofu."

And then Cyborg suddenly felt ill. "EWWWW!!! Oh man, you mean I actually ate that tofu shit? Oh man…" Beast Boy and Robin couldn't help but continuing to laugh, and even Starfire joined in. Raven even allowed a little smirk, but as soon as it was there Beast Boy looked over towards her, and it was gone in a second and replaced by her death stare.

"So immature," she said towards Beast Boy.

"Yeah, but you know you love it," he replied, while she rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna get you, you little grass stain!!!" Cyborg yelled, but before he could even move, the alarm in the Tower went off.

"Titans, trouble!" yelled Robin, who had never bothered to think of anything else to say when the alarm went off.

"But…but…but…what about me getting grass stain?" Cyborg whined.

"Sorry Cy, but we gotta go." Robin replied, and with that the other four Titans moved out towards the elevator.

"Oh damn it all!" Cyborg said. "I'm gonna get you Beast Boy! Just you wait!"

But Beast Boy was happy. Everything had worked out according to plan.

_Yeah, today's gonna be beautiful._


	2. Beautiful Day

Yay for the next chapter. Thanks to those who read the last chapter. Please let me know what you all think of this. Again, I don't own anything. Thank you for reading.

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_Chapter 2: Beautiful Day_

"One day you will have to explain to me the meaning of these 'pranks' and why Beast Boy enjoys 'pulling them,'" Starfire said in the T car as she, Robin, and Cyborg road to the scene of the crime.

"I'll tell you why he enjoys pulling them," Cyborg said. "Because he thinks that one day he'll be able to pull something that will beat me. Well, it ain't ever gonna happen! You hear me?"

Starfire responded, "Yes Cyborg, I can hear you. But what will he have to pull to beat you?"

Robin fought long and hard to not laugh while Cyborg turned red. "Never mind," he mumbled, figuring it wasn't worth trying to continue the awkward moment.

Meanwhile, up in the sky, Beast Boy was flying high on his success.

"I still don't see what there is to be proud of. You rigged up a pie of tofu to fly at Cyborg. Big whoop," Raven said.

As they landed Beast Boy changed into his normal form and said, "Well Cy had it coming for a while. Remember the ice cream incident?" And Raven did. 10 gallons of ice cream ruined. It took Beast Boy 2 weeks to get that uniform completely cleaned.

"And besides," Beast Boy continued, "You gotta admit it was funny."

Raven rolled her eyes, "Like anything you do is funny."

Beast Boy, a little bit annoyed turned towards her and said, "You know, one of these days you're going to have to say something nice to me."

"Don't hold your breath," Raven said as she continued to where the other Titans had gathered. Beast Boy, defeated and now pissed off, followed behind.

"So what's the situation?" Robin asked the policemen on the scene.

"These crazy people just came out of nowhere, and are causing trouble in the mall. They're driving the people out and destroying everything. Say they're from some sort of cult or something," the policeman responded.

"Ok Titans. Let's go!" Robin shouted, and they were off into the mall.

"I wonder what these guys look like," Beast Boy wondered. He didn't have to wonder for long.

Upon entering the mall, which was hard amidst the massive crowd of people trying to escape, they saw 3 hooded men in dark robes who were floating above the crowd and sending out waves of energy, destroying stores and displays throughout their path.

"Flee, fools! It will do you no good! We are the messengers of the truth and your doom! You will tremble before the power of the Order of the Enlightened!" The hooded figures continued to fly around and destroy the mall.

"Hold it!" Robin yelled. The hooded figures, more surprised than intimidated, actually stopped their destruction to turn towards the Titans.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" asked one of the figures.

"We should be asking you the same thing," Cyborg said.

"We're the Teen Titans, defenders of this city. And who are you?" asked Robin.

"Heh, so you want to know who WE are?" asked the cloaked figure.

"I don't like this," said Raven, as more dark energy began to encircle the three floating figures.

"We are the messengers of the sacred Order of the Enlightened! This planet, its people, its very existence is a bane upon the order of the universe, and we have been charged with its destruction. Only then can the balance be placed back into the order in the universe!"

"WHAT???" exclaimed Beast Boy. "You can't do that!"

But the figure only laughed. "Green one, we can and we will do whatever our master commands. This planet is a blemish on the cosmic order, and we will fix it. And there isn't anything you or your friends can do about it!"

"We'll see about that!" yelled Robin. "Titans, GO!"

Instantly, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy, in the form of a pterodactyl, took to the sky to take down the figures, while Robin and Cyborg took to find cover. Starfire began throwing starbolts at the messengers, but the bolts were being countered by the fireballs that the figures were sending back at them.

"AHHHH!!!" Starfire yelled. "Hold on Starfire," yelled Raven, as she chanted. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Suddenly a shield of black energy appeared in front of the three fliers, protecting them from the fireballs while they charged their attackers.

"Ready Beast Boy?" asked Raven, who got a nod from the dinosaur. When they were close to the intruders, then Raven dissipated the shield and Beast Boy transformed into a bear, tackling one of the figures and sending him to the ground in a great crash. Raven and Starfire now squared off against one of the sorcerers each.

On the ground, the aggravated sorcerer was able to blast Beast Boy off of him with a powerful torrent of flame, but then had to contend with Cyborg's sonic cannon.

"Can't take the heat, huh, hot stuff?" The sorcerer was under a continuous barrage, but was soon able to send a blast of flame back at Cyborg, knocking him back into the window of what remained of a clothing store.

"Ugh…oh, he likes to play," muttered Cyborg as the sorcerer closed in. But the sorcerer had forgotten about the other two male Titans, as Robin cracked him over the back with his staff, and Beast Boy then charged as a ram and knocked the sorcerer into a food stand. Once Beast Boy changed back he look at Cyborg and said

"Hey Cy. Nice dress."

"Wha?" said Cyborg as he looked down to find that he was dressed in one of the polka-dotted sun dresses in the display. "Grr…that tears it," as he tore the feminine dress from his body.

He saw the sorcerer begin to recover as he aimed his cannon and shot a powerful wave that sent the sorcerer flying into another wall. "Booyah! Hey BB. I think bird boy and I can take this one. You should go help the others out," Cyborg yelled as he and Robin took off in pursuit of the grounded sorcerer.

"Good idea, Cy," said Beast Boy, before turning into an eagle and taking to the skies again.

As it turns out, it was a good idea, because while the three boys were easily able to handle their sorcerer on the ground, 1 on 1 in the air was a much harder match-up for Raven and Starfire. Starfire and her cloaked caster continued to fly around each other, both trying to hit with their projectile energy attacks, while Raven and the other sorcerer were locked in a battle of magic waves, waiting to see who would bend first. Beast Boy was closer to Star, and so he was able to sneak up on the sorcerer and began to claw at his face with his talons.

"AAAHH!! Blasted creature!" exclaimed the sorcerer as he was about to fry Beast Boy when Starfire stepped in with a might hit that sent the sorcerer flying.

"Are you unharmed, Beast Boy?" asked Starfire, who received a nod in reply from the eagle. "Then let us help friend Raven with her unwelcome sorcerer." Beast Boy took off like a…well like an eagle, towards the other sorcerer.

Raven, meanwhile, was locked in a power struggle with the other sorcerer.

_He's strong. But I'm stronger._

And Raven was slowly beginning to win the war. Suddenly she caught something out of the corner of her eye flying towards the sorcerer. And then her world went white, as the sudden disconnect of energy caused both beams to explode, sending both sorcerer and half-demon flying into walls. Beast Boy flew over to where Raven crashed and changed back.

"Oh man, Raven! I'm so sorry. I didn't think that would happen," he said apologetically as he offered his hand.

"You never seem to think," Raven said sternly as she got up on her own, "And I was handling him just fine." Beast Boy backed off, and was clearly dejected as Starfire floated over.

"Friend Raven, I believe Beast Boy was only trying to help.." But Starfire was unable to finish her sentence as the sorcerer she was fighting earlier blasted her with a fireball again and she began to fall.

"Starfire!" yelled Beast Boy, which caught Robin's attention, and he took off in full speed to get under Starfire just in time to make the Jerry Rice-esque catch. Starfire came too when she was in Robin's arms.

"My hero," she smiled.

"Are you ok?" asked Robin. "Yes, I am Robin," said Starfire. "Let us finish this fight!"

"Yo, Robin!" called Cyborg. "The one down here is knocked out!"

"Alright then team," said Robin. "Let's take care of the other two!"

Starfire lifted into the air again, carrying Robin with her, and when she was close enough, she flung him towards the sorcerer, who was caught off guard and soon met Robin's boot up close and personal. Starfire finished the job by blasting the hooded figure to the ground and then nimbly caught Robin and floated back down to the ground.

Meanwhile Raven was finally standing and ready to fight again.

"Let me help you," Beast Boy said.

"You want to help me? Then just stay out of my way!" said Raven as she took off into flight again. "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" she chanted as two hands of black magic energy encased the third sorcerer and threw him to the ground. Cyborg was able to knock out the other two sorcerers, and then he tied all three to a pillar so they couldn't escape.

"Ok…I think we got them," he said. "Are you alright up there BB?"

"Yeah, I'm just great," Beast Boy mumbled before changing again and flying down to join his teammates.

Raven went over to the unconscious sorcerers to use her powers to seal their magic so that the authorities could take them away.

"I'm not sure I've seen magic like this before, but they should be good to go," she said as she rejoined the team.

"Good," said Robin. "I just called the police in, so they should be able to take it from here," as the cops showed up and began to cuff the cloaked sorcerers and lead them away. "Let's get out of here. We did good today team."

"Oh, I know!" said Starfire excitedly. "Let us perform the act of celebration!"

"Good idea," agreed Cyborg, "But what should we do?"

"We'll figure it out," said Robin. "Let's just get out of here." Agreeing the team started to leave.

However, Raven turned around just in time to hear one of the sorcerers who was slowly coming back into consciousness.

"Fools…you cannot stop this…"

Raven was puzzled, but didn't think too much of it, and decided to file this away for now. But as she had learned many times before, the craziest ideas are the ones that tend to come true.


	3. City of Blinding Lights

Alright, new chapter is up. I want to thank those who have been reading, faving, and reviewing this story. I'm glad you like it. As I continue to read over it so far, it seem like things are starting out slow. Sorry, apparently I like a lot of build up, but there is definitely more drama coming throughout the rest of the story. Again, I don't own anything. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

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_Chapter 3: City of Blinding Lights_

When the Titans exited the deserted mall, it was near the end of the day and the sun was setting. The city was beginning to come alive for night, and the lights were turning on.

"OOOOOO!" exclaimed Starfire. "Look at the lights! What a glorious sight for those who live in this city!" as she was ecstatic over the lights of the city.

"It's just the city turning its lights on for night, Star," said Robin. "But it does look cool."

"Hey Robin," said Cyborg. "How 'bout we hang out in the city for once tonight?"

"Yeah!" chimed in Beast Boy. "We could go get some pizza, then check out the stores and the sights, and find some music! It'll be great! What do you say, Raven?"

"Whatever," she mumbled.

"Ok, it's settled then. The Titans are going to take a night out on the town! Let's go!"

"YAY!" shouted Beast Boy. "We're going to the city! We're going to the city!"

"Whoop-de-do" said Raven, as she slowly pulled up the rear. _It's going to be a long night._

After traveling a few blocks, the Titans were able to find their usual pizza hang out spot, and sat down to a well deserved meal. By the time they were done, it was nightfall, and the city was in full light. The Titans decided to go window shopping along some of the streets and started walking downtown.

Robin and Starfire took the lead, as the couple was holding hands and Starfire was excitedly talking about each new beautiful light that she saw, while Robin was simply trying to make sure that his entire face wasn't red.

Beast Boy and Cyborg followed a distance behind, making jokes along the way, or laughing behind Robin's back and coming up with more and more blackmail ideas for later on at the tower.

And Raven was at the back.

_Humph. Good for Robin and Star. They should be happy._ But as she looked around and saw many different couples she felt dejected, even though her face remained as stern and emotionless as ever.

_Why is it that I can't ever seem to find someone? I know that I'm dark, but I have to be. My emotions are dangerous. Why can't people ever understand that? The only guy who even seems to give me attention is..._

And she looked straight ahead to the green boy walking in front of her.

"So then he said, 'That's not a lawnmower, that's my wife!'" and both Cyborg and Beast Boy burst into laughter.

_Beast Boy..._

_NO!_ she thought, catching herself. _Please, Beast Boy? I can't believe I even considered thinking that!_

_I mean, sure, he is kind, and he does try to go out of his way for me, even though I continue to treat him like crap, and he has grown pretty well in all the right places..._

She stopped walking and mentally slapped herself.

_Mental note: I have to kill Affection when I get back to the tower. That was probably the most disgusting thing I've ever thought._

She continued walking, caught up in the midst of her own thoughts.

_I mean, who could want Beast Boy??? He's an imbecile, a nutcase, an immature little kid!_

"Hey Raven."

_I'm surprised he even knows how to tie his own shoes, much less be able to comprehend the female gender at all._

"Raven."

_Please, the very notion that this annoying little..._

"RAVEN!!!"

Raven looked up to see Beast Boy looking right at her, as the rest of the team had stopped.

"What?" she asked, thankful for her hood as she was blushing just a bit.

"We're going to go into this store. Are you gonna come in here with us, or are you going to daydream some more?" Beast Boy asked, with a little bit of mockery in his voice. Raven glared at him.

"Sure," embarrassed to be caught in her own thoughts and very displeased with the smug look Beast Boy seemed to have on his face.

_Like he could read my mind..._

Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy soon split up to go check out their respective music in the store, leaving Robin and Starfire by themselves. But while Starfire was looking at music, Robin seemed to be daydreaming himself.

"OOOO, Robin! I believe you must 'check out' this music. It is, I believe the phrase is…"

Robin continued to stare out the window.

"Robin," asked Starfire. "Are you listening to me?"

"Hm...oh what? Sorry Starfire, I was just thinking," replied Robin. "I wonder what was the deal with those guys that we fought earlier today."

"Oh," said Starfire, a little dejected that Robin didn't seem to be having as much fun as everyone else was (or at least seemed to). "Robin, we did a good job today. We kicked the butt. Let us celebrate and have fun and not worry about the crime anymore today."

"But Star, what if something like today happens again? We need to be ready for it ok, and I need to have a better plan if it happens again."

"But," Star began. But Robin was already deep in his own thoughts again.

Starfire, dejected, turned back to the music she was looking at.

_I've got to be able to do something to get his mind off of work and onto something fun._

Starfire tried to think of what she could do to get Robin to have fun, or to do something to take his mind off of work for once. _I am his girlfriend, am I not? I should be able to get him to get his mind off of work and spend time with me and have fun! That is what I will do!_

So Starfire was determined to drag Robin off and spend time with him when the rest of the team met at the door to leave. But they ran into a surprise, though mostly for Cyborg.

"Hey there, Sparky."

"Oh, um, hey…hey there Bee," Cyborg was able to stutter out, with Beast Boy stifling his laughter in the background. "W-What's going on?"

"Not much," said Bumblebee. "Just thought I'd catch up on some music. I got a job at this happening dance hall. You all should come out there sometime."

"Oh, that would be most extraordinary!" exclaimed Starfire.

"Y-yeah, that'd be cool," said Cyborg.

"Well alright then. Stay cool Sparky. I'll be seeing ya," as Bee leaned in to kiss his cheek and left the store.

Cyborg's human side of his head turned beet red while Beast Boy laughed.

"Hey! What's so funny, huh?" said Cyborg. "At least I've got someone interested in me!" a comment which promptly shut Beast Boy up.

"Guys, guys, take it easy, huh?" said Robin. "So, where to next?"

"Um, Robin," Starfire began. "Could perhaps you accompany me to...uh…somewhere else…alone???"

"Oh…OH…um well Star, what about everyone else, certainly they'll"

"Hey, it's no problem Robin," said Cyborg. "We'll go hit up something else, you all can have your time." _Besides_ _its about time you two lovebirds stopped making us sick_, he laughed to himself.

"Well, ok then," Robin said. And he and Starfire took off one way.

"Guys," Cyborg said, "I think I'm gonna get the T-car and head back. You all wanna ride?"

"No thanks," said Raven. "There's actually somewhere I want to go check out first."

"Hey, can I go with you?" Beast Boy asked. Raven was somewhat surprised.

"I'm not so sure this would be the kind of place you'd want to hang out, Beast Boy," she said.

"Come on, Raven! I promise I'll be good! Please!" pleaded Beast Boy.

"Ok, fine," sighed Raven. "But if you embarrass me you won't live long enough to regret it."

"Ok then," said Cyborg. "Have fun kids!" he laughed as he turned away and avoided seeing their glares at his back. Beast Boy then turned to Raven.

"So, where to?"


	4. Even Better Than the Real Thing

New chapter is up. The drama starts to unfold in this one, and the chapters from here on out are going to be longer. Still own nothing. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

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_Chapter 4: Even Better Than the Real Thing_

Robin and Starfire continued walking down the street in the city, with Starfire trying desperately to get Robin to focus on her instead of his work.

"Come on, Star. What are we doing here? Is this really what you wanted me to see? I could be trying to figure out more about what happened earlier today."

"Oh, but Robin…Ooo, let's go into this store. Come on Robin!"

"But Star," Robin sighed. "Here we go again…"

Robin couldn't figure out what Star was trying to do, and it was starting to annoy him.

_We've been up and down this city, going into random stores. We actually went into a tobacco store because Starfire thought the pipes looked interesting. Why did we have to go spend time away from the others if this is what we're doing? Is she up to something?_

Even for someone who came from the great detective Bruce Wayne, Robin couldn't figure out what was going on in his alien girlfriend's head. Starfire found her way towards him, holding a magazine of some sort.

"Look Robin. I believe these people are fighting in this magazine for some kind of prize, for certainly they wear the most colorful armor. I think this ball is their prize," as she tried to get Robin to pay attention to the sports magazine. "And look here…"

"Star," Robin said. "Let's go outside, ok?"

"Um…ok," said Star. She was confused. Nothing she tried had seemed to work, and she thought that certainly something in some store would help for her to gain Robin's attention. They both made it outside of the store when Robin spoke up.

"Look Star. I don't know what you dragged me around here for, but I'm starting to get tired of it. Now is something the matter or what? What did you really get me out here to show me?"

Star didn't really know what to say. She was now certain that Robin was not enjoying himself, and she wanted him to have fun. She was about to say something, when she heard some music far away.

"Robin, I do believe I hear some music. We should go investigate it!"

"Investigate the music?" Robin asked. "Why should we do that?"

"Because…it could be fun?" Starfire responded.

Robin sighed and Starfire worriedly led the way. Meanwhile, Raven and Beast Boy were making their way towards Raven's destination.

"So tell me," Raven demanded.

"Tell you what?" Beast Boy asked.

"Tell me why you wanted to come along with me."

Beast Boy thought for a minute. "Well, I don't know, cause I didn't have anything I wanted to do."

"So you didn't want to come. You just felt sorry for me, right?"

"What, NO!" exclaimed the poor green teen. "No, I didn't feel sorry for you. I just thought you might enjoy some company…that's all."

"Whatever," said Raven.

"So…where are we going," asked Beast Boy.

"To a bookstore," replied Raven.

"But we passed a bookstore hours ago with the others," protested Beast Boy.

"You asked me if you wanted to come along, so don't complain about where we're going," said Raven. "Besides, this isn't the same bookstore. This one's…different."

"Different how," asked Beast Boy.

"Have you even read a book before?" quipped Raven. "I'm not sure you'll be able to tell the difference."

"Hey, I have too read books before!" said Beast Boy.

"Any without pictures in them?"

"Well, we sure are in a good mood tonight, huh? What has got you so down anyway?" asked Beast Boy.

"Who's saying I'm down?" asked Raven.

"You're in an even worse mood than you usually are," said Beast Boy, which caused Raven to get even more annoyed than she previously was. "Now why is that?"

"Well, there's this annoying green boy who continues to follow me around and never leave me alone or give me a moment's peace," said Raven.

"Oh come on Raven," exclaimed Beast Boy. "This is the same game we've been playing for years. What do I do that's so annoying to you?"

"Like you don't know," said Raven. "Everything you do is annoying to me! Yet you insist on continuing this behavior!" Their argument continued all the way towards the bookstore.

Meanwhile Robin and Starfire had made their way to where a live band was playing outside. Some people had gathered around to hear them play, mostly covers, and they were pretty good.

Starfire was trying to listen to the music and get Robin to enjoy himself, whereas he was merely leaning against a building, wondering why they were there.

"Ooo Robin! This music is, as friend Cyborg would say, 'da bomb!'" exclaimed Starfire.

"Yeah, it's not bad," said Robin. "But we have music at home you could have listened to if you really wanted to. And I could have been working on figuring out more about those guys who attacked the mall earlier today."

"Oh, I give up!" exclaimed Starfire, throwing her hands in the air. "I have tried everything to make you happy and have fun, but nothing is working! All you can think about is work and villains and fighting and all those stupid things!"

"HEY!" yelled Robin. "Those things are not stupid. We are heroes Starfire! We're supposed to do hero work, not worry about going into stupid little shops and having fun!"

"But one cannot work all the time!" protested Starfire. "Must everything we do be hero work? Can there be no time for the hanging out, for fun, for being together?"

"Look, Starfire," began Robin. "I'm not saying that there can't be time for fun, or hanging out, or whatever. But we have to have our priorities in check. If the city is in danger we have to put our duties there first. We can't stop being heroes and fighting villains because of fun or stupid relationships or something."

"Oh, so now I am stupid!" said Starfire, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I didn't say you were stupid Star!" exclaimed Robin. "But I have to have my priorities straightened out, and its not easy…"

"It's always priorities with you Robin," said Starfire. "It's always being heroes, and fighting crime, and its always on your terms. It's always about you, isn't it Robin?"

"Hey! I do this city a favor. With as often as it gets attacked, this city would be doomed without me and without this team. This city needs me!"

"I need you. Why can't you see that?" said Starfire.

Robin stopped.

"Why do you enjoy spending time worrying about stopping crime more than spending time with me? You say that we are the boyfriend and girlfriend, Robin. So why do you seem to not enjoy spending time with me?" asked Starfire.

"It's not that I don't enjoy spending time with you Starfire. I like spending time with you, too. But I am a hero. That's who I am, and who I have to be. It's all I know how to be. And that has to be first for me. That has to be first for all of us." Starfire's heart sank, and she turned away from Robin.

_I guess he doesn't care like I thought he did._

"I thought you understood that. Why can't you see that, Starfire?" asked Robin. But Starfire did not turn around.

"I can see that now, Robin. You are a hero, and that is all you are. You have always been, and you will always be, only a hero." And with that she slowly started to float away.

And Robin could only stand there and watch her go.

Things were not any better with Raven and Beast Boy. They had finally reached Raven's bookstore, but instead of going inside, were still arguing outside of it.

"Do you know what your problem is, Raven?" said Beast Boy. "You don't want to feel."

"Excuse me?" said Raven.

"You heard me. You're too afraid to feel. It's so much easier for you to just be emotionless and not have to go through the ups and downs like the rest of us do. So its impossible for you to be nice and caring to anyone."

"Oh, like you know anything about my emotions!" spat back Raven. "You have no idea what it's like to be me, what I have to go through in order to prevent destroying everything around me. I can't HAVE emotions, Beast Boy! See, that's your problem. You're so stupid."

"Hey! I am not stupid!" exclaimed Beast Boy.

"Yes you are! You think that all your little jokes make you funny and clever, but they don't. They just show what a dimwit you really are! You couldn't be serious if your life depended on it!"

"You have no idea how serious I could be!" shouted Beast Boy, their voices still increasing in volume.

"Exactly, cause you're never serious EVER! Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, it's not the time to tell a joke once in a while? That maybe you really aren't as funny as you think you are, and maybe if you ever took yourself seriously other people would too?"

"Well at least I'm more fun to hang around with that Ms. I-Hate-Everything! I'd rather see people smile than be upset at my account. So I'm going to tell my jokes and do what I feel like because I don't want to be serious all the time! It's not fun. You can't stand the rest of us having fun and enjoying our lives even though you refuse to feel anything of it! How does that make sense at all? Huh Raven? Tell me that!"

"ARGH! THAT'S IT!" shouted Raven. And in a flash, she disappeared.

And Beast Boy was left alone, regretting he'd even said anything.


	5. Some Days Are Better Than Others

I want to thank all of you who have been reading this story. I hope you enjoy the next installment, and, if you like, leave me reviews so I know how this is going. Thanks, and enjoy!

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_Chapter 5: Some Days Are Better Than Others_

When the Titans made it home that night, not a word was spoken. Cyborg was already asleep, and wasn't aware of everything that had taken place. Things were strained enough as it is, and so they all went to bed with their individual hopes that things would look better in the morning.

Unfortunately, they didn't.

"Hey, y'all," said Cyborg, fighting off another yawn as he walked into the kitchen, to see Robin and Beast Boy. "How did the rest of last night go?"

Robin merely continued to sit with his head in his hands. "Don't ask."

Beast Boy merely grunted.

"What? What could have been so bad to have possibly happened?" asked Cyborg. At that moment Starfire came down for breakfast. "Morning, Star!"

"Good morning Cyborg," Starfire replied, albeit without her usual energy. In fact, while she usually floated all over the tower, today she was simply walking down the steps towards where everyone else was at. Cyborg was incredibly confused.

"What the…" he was going to continue, but then Raven also walked in through the door.

"Hey Raven!" he said.

Raven barely acknowledged his existence, went and grabbed a cup of tea and announced, "I'm going back to my room." And then she disappeared.

"Whoa…what's gotten into her?" Cyborg asked.

"Actually, I think I will take my breakfast and go to my room, as well," said Starfire, grabbing a bottle of mustard and slowly walking out the door.

As soon as she was gone Cyborg was almost livid. "Ok, guys. What the hell happened last night?"

Robin stood up and said, "I don't know Cyborg. I really don't want to think about it now. I'm going to go see if I can find out more information about those guys from yesterday." And without another word, he left as well.

Cyborg was not dumbfounded. "Oh man! BB, what happened last night?" he asked, hoping, almost praying that Beast Boy would tell some kind of joke or something to reassure Cyborg that things were going to be ok.

He didn't get a joke at all. Beast Boy merely looked up at Cyborg, shook his head, and went back to his room.

Cyborg, completely unaware of what was going on, merely sat down at the table. "Damn it. I don't even know if I want to know."

The next few days did not go by smoothly for the Titans.

Robin mainly stayed in his room, looking for leads, clues, anything that would take his mind off of Starfire and what happened. He had seen news of freak storms occurring around the world, which seemed odd, but otherwise there were nothing else out of the ordinary.

Raven came out only to get tea or something to eat, and then hastily retreated to her room.

Starfire would come out of her room for periods of time, but if Robin ever came around, she would make up some excuse to return to her room.

Beast Boy was the first Titan to break his hermitage, and actually leave his room for a long period of time. He and Cyborg would sit and play video games, though Beast Boy still lacked his original spirit.

"Hey, BB. Can I ask you something?" asked Cyborg.

"Sure Cy," said Beast Boy, almost mechanically, his attention still clearly on the game.

Cyborg took a deep breath. _I hope I don't regret this._ "What happened to everyone a few nights ago?"

Beast Boy stopped what he was doing, paused the game, and sat back. He looked down, and didn't look at Cyborg.

"Well, I don't know what happened with Bird Brain and Star, but I bet it was his fault."

"Ok," said Cyborg. "I figured as much. But what about with you and Raven? What happened there?"

Beast Boy took a long breath before he began. "I don't know, Cy. It seems like every time I talk to her all she can do is insult me. I don't get it. What did I do to her?"

"Whoa, wait a minute. How about what happened that night?" asked Cyborg, trying to calm Beast Boy down.

Beast Boy took another breath. "Well, we were on our way to the bookstore that Raven wanted to go to."

"Wait a minute," interrupted Cyborg. "We had passed by a bookstore earlier…"

"Dude, that's what I said," replied Beast Boy. "But this one was…different. I don't know. So anyway I asked her what different meant, and she said that I couldn't read, and I said that she was in a worse mood that usual, and…things just went downhill from that."

Cyborg let out a long whistle. "So, another big fight, huh?"

Beast Boy nodded. "I just don't understand. All I try to do is be nice to her, and cheer her up. I don't see why she has to be so down all the time. I understand her emotion thingy plenty, but she shouldn't have to be so negative all the time. She said I wasn't funny and that I was annoying, Cy!"

Cyborg smirked. "Well you can be sometimes, BB."

"Not helping Cy."

"Ok, ok." Cyborg thought for a minute. "Well, why do you try so hard? I mean, you almost try to spend more time around Raven than anyone else, so why is that?"

Beast Boy grunted. "Hell, I don't know. I mean I…guess…I don't know…Damn it, Cy! Now I have to go think about something!"

Cyborg laughed and patted him on the back. "Glad to be of service, BB."

Beast Boy walked off to try and wrap his mind around this new dilemma. He wasn't the only one.

Raven sat in her room, trying desperately to meditate. She hadn't been able to meditate well in 3 days and it was driving her and her powers crazy. She had broken 10 light bulbs and 3 chairs in that period of time, and was not getting any better.

"Azerath."

"Metrion"

"Zinth.."

CRACK!

Raven opened her eyes, seeing that yet another chair leg was now broken in two. "Damn it!"

She couldn't focus at all, and she couldn't figure it out. And so her thoughts began to wander.

"Why can't I focus anymore? Ever since that stupid fight with Beast Boy, everything's been off."

She started to pace around her room. "I mean, I can't understand it. If he wasn't so annoying, I wouldn't have to have snapped at him. But he's just always there, always around me, wanting a smile or a laugh or something. GAH!"

Raven started to think back to the fight, remembering how Beast Boy had bugged her and insulted her. But then she remembered other parts of it.

"But I guess I didn't treat him any better. But he thinks that I'm always in a bad mood; that's how he sees me! How insulting is that?"

But then she thought again.

"Is that how I really treat him all the time, though? Am I always in a bad mood?"

"ARGH! This is so stupid! How come this can bother me so much? Why is it that he's the one who annoys me and drives me crazy, and I feel guilty about telling him off?"

She sighed and sat down on her bed.

"Is it because he really doesn't annoy me as much as I want to think he does?"

She then fell back onto her bed with her legs still hanging off the edge of it.

"Is it maybe, that in his own little way, he actually cares about me and is concerned, and I can only treat him like crap?"

She rolled over, and her eyes grew wide at a sudden realization.

"Is it maybe even more then that?" But as soon as she thought it, she closed her eyes and shook her head.

"Impossible. Beast Boy is nice towards everyone. I mean, he's always looking out for Robin and Cyborg and Starfire. He couldn't really feel anything special for me."

Almost laughing to herself, she allowed a small smirk.

"And, really, Beast Boy? Why would I want to be with HIM? Why would he want to be with me? We have nothing in common, we're completely different. No, no, that couldn't be it at all." And then she sighed.

"Besides, I don't think I'd ever be that lucky," she admitted to the silence of her room. Raven then sat up and tried to meditate again for the thousandth time.

Beast Boy was still trying to get the gears to turn himself, and figure out his own dilemma.

"Come on, Beast Boy! Think! Think! Why, oh why, do I continue to put myself through the punishment that Raven gives me? Why do I want to hang around Raven in the first place?"

He laid on the bottom bunk of his bed and tried to process.

"I mean, it seems like every time I talk to her, all I get back is sarcasm, and insults, and I don't get that from anyone else on the team. She's the only one who consistently treats me like crap! Even when I'm trying to do something nice for her, all I get is insulted!"

"Why would I want to be around someone who continues to do that?" he asked the top bunk.

When his bed didn't respond, he rolled over to his side. "But I don't think she really means anything that she says like that. Deep down, I see how she acts, and I know she cares about all of us. But so why does she treat me like crap?"

He flipped over to his other side. "Well, maybe I do come off a little strong. I mean, maybe I could do more to respect her space more often."

He then sat up straight. "But why do I go through so much? Why do I care so much about her? YIPE!"

And then it hit him.

"Um…but by 'care about her,' I meant as a friend. Yeah, as a friend…yeah…"

And Beast Boy flopped back down onto his bed.

"Oh Beast Boy. What a mess. I can't have thoughts like that. You know she'd never go for you. You're so 'annoying' and 'stupid.' And why would Raven want to be with someone like that?" he sadly asked.

The bed would give him no reply, and Beast Boy turned over to try and fall asleep.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to even get any sleep, as the alarm sounded.

The Titans gathered in the common room, trying not to let the tension get in the way of what they were going to have to do.

"What is it Robin," asked Cyborg.

"It seems like there's someone attacking downtown," reported Robin. "It looks bad, too. No one's been able to identify him yet." He then looked around at his tired team, and for the first time really felt the tension within the group.

"So…um…let's go, Titans," he said, trying desperately not to look at Starfire.

They then went on the most awkward elevator ride any of them had ever been on.

When they reached the bottom, Raven and Starfire took off into the sky, Robin got onto his R-cycle, and Beast Boy and Cyborg took the T-car. After traveling for a little while, they finally arrived at the scene, which was just past the park.

"Um…is anybody getting a feeling of déjà vu?" asked Beast Boy. The others nodded their agreement, for up in the sky, was a new sorcerer, causing wanton destruction. He looked similar to the three that they had battled before, but there was something different about this one.

"Turn you fools and scatter! For the time has come for this world to be snuffed out of existence!" he yelled at all of the fleeing people. When he spotted the Titans, he decided to come down from the sky and meet them face to face.

"Well, Titans!" he began. "I have heard much about you. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Leon. I am the leader of the Order of the Enlightened. I believe you disposed of three of my messengers a few days back."

"Yeah, we took care of them," Cyborg said. "It was easy."

"Yes, so I heard," sneered Leon. "They have been taken care of."

"Well anyway, Titans, I have come to welcome you. For you see, this is going to mark a grand day for you all. This is the beginning of the end of your world!"

"Funny, that's what your cronies said last time before we beat them," said Robin.

"Oh, is that so?" queried Leon. "Well I can guarantee no such thing will happen this time. You see, Robin is it? I am a far more powerful entity than you can imagine. I have faced entire armies and lived! You five will be no match for my power!" he exclaimed as he began to draw energy into his open hands.

"Very well, then," said Robin. "Titans, GO!" And the battle was underway.

Starfire and Raven began using their energy attacks against Leon, but he was easily able to dodge them.

"Is that the best you ladies have got?" he sneered before launching one of the fireballs from his hand which exploded right in their faces.

"NO! Starfire! Raven!" shouted Beast Boy, who turned into a rhino and started charging the sorcerer. But Leon was able to quickly dodge green rhino.

"Shapeshifter! You skills are impressive but you are still no match for me!" he said as he hurled yet another fireball which sent Beast Boy flying.

"Oh, you are going down," yelled a charging Cyborg, who fired away with his sonic cannon.

But Leon now summoned a barrier of fire that absorbed the shots from Cyborg. He then collapsed the wall in and send a wave of energy at Cyborg, which sent him crashing into a building.

"Please, continue trying to attack me! I am enjoying this exercise!" shouted Leon.

"Exercise this!" yelled Robin as he swung his staff at Leon. But the sorcerer swiftly grabbed his staff and melted it in Robin's hands. Robin then dropped the staff and begun to try to hit the Leon, but he was too quick.

"Come now, Robin. You are the leader. I would assume you were the strongest and would be at least a distraction. I see now I was wrong," as he grabbed Robin's wrist and flung him into the air, and then for good measure blasted him in midair, sending him falling to the ground.

Within a matter of minutes, this sorcerer had disposed of all five Titans, who were now struggling to recover.

"I am telling you Titans. The time for this world is at an end. I will destroy it piece by piece and through this, order shall be reestablished! You cannot stop me, so I will give you a chance to join me. I will see you all shortly!" And then he exploded in a flash of brilliant light and disappeared.

The five beaten Titans struggled to come back together.

"Well that could have gone better," said Beast Boy.

"No kidding," agreed Raven.

"Come on team, let's get back," said Robin. "We can regroup and figure out our next move."

"Alright," said Cyborg. "Let me just go get the…AAAAAHHH!!!"

Cyborg screamed for, during the battle, the T-car had been utterly totaled by a fireball from Leon.

"No, baby, NO! Oh please, God! Take me instead! Shh, shh, it's ok baby. It'll be ok," Cyborg said with tears in his eyes. "The evil man who hurt you is gonna pay. Just hold on baby, please!" as he began to sob.

"I'll call the tow truck," said Raven.


	6. Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car

Hooray for the new chapter. Thanks to all who have read the story so far, I hope you continue to enjoy it.

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_Chapter 6: Daddy's Gonna Pay For Your Crashed Car_

The Teen Titans didn't see Cyborg for the next 48 hours.

He had utterly refused to send his car into a repair shop.

"WHAT?!?! We're not sending MY BABY into some repair shop where they'll do who-knows-what to her!!! No one's gonna be putting their dirty paws all over her except me, damn it!!!"

So they had the tow truck drag the car back to the tower, where Cyborg pushed it up the driveway and into the garage, then went and got his portable charger and proceeded to the garage.

"Well," he said, "if anybody needs me…and unless you want a wrench up your ass, you won't need me…I'll be in the garage." And that was the last they saw of their mechanical friend for quite some time.

So it was the day after the fight with Leon, and the Titans were trying to nurse bruises and bruised egos.

Starfire had actually worked up the nerve to go and try to talk to Robin, in the hopes that he might want to talk. _Maybe after the fight he might want to speak to me, to have his mind off of our defeat._

She was sadly wrong.

"Um…Robin," said Starfire as she knocked on his door. "I…I was wondering if we could talk?"

"…Not right now, Star," came the voice from the other side of the door.

"Please Robin, it would be very important to me if we…"

"Look, Star," said Robin as he opened the door slightly. "I'm very busy now with trying to figure out just who that guy was who attacked us last night, and what he was talking about, so this is going to have to wait, ok?" And he closed the door before he could get an answer.

Defeated, yet again, Starfire walked back to her room.

Raven was still trying to hide out in her room. She was worried after yesterday's fight, and her head was still swimming with the thoughts concerning Beast Boy. All of the issues up in the air in the tower were making it hard for her to concentrate, and she was hoping for a solution. _I've got to be able to figure this out somehow. UGH! All of this nonsense! Everyone's emotions are so high, its throwing MINE completely out of whack!_

Beast Boy, however, had enough of being in his room. Frankly, he was bored with sitting around all day feeling sorry for himself. And even if he hadn't figured things out between him and Raven yet, he knew he at least needed to apologize and try to lower the tension a bit, especially with everything else that was happening.

He also was desperate to find a way to get out of the tower, lest Robin come looking for help trying to find this Leon. _Knowing Robin, we'll all soon be pouring over all kinds of crap just to find the word 'Leon' somewhere..._

So he was sitting in the common room channel surfing, and silently hoping, praying, that something or someone would come along so that he could get out of the tower for a while. And that was when he heard the door open. Half hopeful and half scared that it would be Robin, he slowly turned to look.

It was Raven. "Hey, Raven."

She looked up, surprised, at Beast Boy. "Oh, hello Beast Boy."

"How are you feeling?" asked Beast Boy.

Raven shrugged. "Beaten, but I'll live." She then proceeded to pour herself a cup of tea and sat down on the couch on the opposite corner from Beast Boy.

Both could feel the tension build, as both had something they wanted to say. With everything else that had happened between them lately, it didn't seem as though either one would take any initiative at all. But Beast Boy finally broke the silence.

"Listen, Raven," he began. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Well, there's something I need to tell you, too, Beast Boy."

"I'm sorry" they both said at the same time, and then looked at each other with confused looks.

"Why are you sorry?" said Raven. "I'm the one who's always mean to you for no reason, and I'm the one who insulted you. All you try to do is be friendly towards me."

"Yeah, well, that might be true," said Beast Boy, "but I could do more to respect your space, too. And I guess I can be a _little_ annoying at times."

"Well," began Raven, "I think I need to be more willing to open that space up sometimes."

Beast Boy smiled. "Apology accepted, Raven."

She smirked. "Likewise. Now I'm going to go read."

"Um…Raven wait!" Beast Boy called. "What is it Beast Boy?" she asked.

"Well…I was wondering if…maybe you'd like to get out of the tower and go get some lunch or something?" he asked nervously.

Raven eyed him curiously. "Ok…but why?"

"Because I'm tired of being in this tower all the time, and I need to get out of here. And after all the crap between the two of us…I don't know…I thought we should maybe try to get on a better level or something…"

"Well, I don't know…" began Raven.

"Or," said Beast Boy, "if you want we can go see if Robin wants some help looking up criminal records from the past millennia trying to find this Leon dude."

"Point taken," said Raven. "Let's get the hell out of here."

Beast Boy smiled. "Ok, let's go."

Raven nodded. "Let's fly. I know a place." And so they left through the door.

Shortly after, Robin walked out from his room into the common room, his head stuck in some papers he had printed off.

"Man guys, all this time and no leads on this Leon guy. There's a lot of weird things going on around the world though, I wonder if we…" Robin took a look around and noticed there was no one there.

"Hey! Where the hell is everyone?" he asked the silence. Shaking his head, he then turned and mumbled to himself as he went back to his room

"You know, it's called the Teen _Titans_ for a reason, not the Teen Titan. Every time something needs to be done, and I'm the one who winds up doing it…"

Raven and Beast Boy were already airborne, with Raven taking the lead, and Beast Boy, in the form of a raven, following behind. They landed in front of a coffeehouse, and Beast Boy was a bit surprised.

"Wow, Raven. Coffee?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "They have tea here as well, Beast Boy."

He sheepishly smiled, "Oh, yeah. I knew that." And they both walked inside and placed their orders, Beast Boy getting vegetarian soup, while Raven was content with simply a cup of tea. They got their food and sat down at a booth nearby.

"Is that tea good?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven shrugged. "It's alright, I guess. One of the few places that has something I like."

Their talk continued to be small for a while as Beast Boy finished his soup, and Raven her tea.

"I bet Robin wouldn't be happy that we're out here right now," Beast Boy remarked.

"Why do you think that?" asked Raven.

"I don't know," he said. "Robin seems to have this sensor in his head that alerts him when people are having fun, so that he knows to budge in and force people to 'be productive.'" After all, Raven, 'time spent playing is time that could be spent training,'" he said, in his best Robin voice.

And Raven actually smirked a bit. "WOW!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "A smile! I haven't seen one of those in a while," he grinned.

Raven merely shook her head and regained her normal composure. "Don't get too full of yourself. It isn't that you were funny so much as it was Robin being stupid." Beast Boy looked hurt, but shrugged it off.

"So how did you find this place?" Beast Boy asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," he continued, "It's not like we ever see you go out on your own that often. You always just seem to stay in your room most of the time. Just wondering when you actually got out to come across this place."

She smirked. "I'll have you know I can be plenty sneaky when I want to be."

"Oh really?" piped Beast Boy, raising his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

She just shook her head. "I know what you're thinking and its disgusting. Nothing like that. I had been here a few times long ago…with a boy."

Beast Boy's smile suddenly disappeared. "Oh…oh, a boy…huh?"

Raven noticed his disappointment, and was a bit surprised. _I probably didn't need to include that part, I guess._ "Well, yeah…but it was a long time ago…and its not like anything came out of it or anything…"

"Oh," replied Beast Boy.

A few moments of silence passed before Beast Boy responded again.

"So who was he? The boogeyman?" A comment which got Raven irritated.

"Wow. Can't be serious for a minute can you?"

"Hey!" said Beast Boy. "I can be serious. I might not be down in the dumps serious or 'all my life is pain' serious…"

"Ok, first of all, I am not down in the dumps serious. But I am serious. We are 18 years old now, Beast Boy. We aren't little kids anymore. And even more then that, we're superheroes. We need to be serious about what we do. And you clearly cannot be serious at all."

"But…"

"Furthermore," Raven continued, getting a little more agitated, "I highly doubt you have any footing on which to make judgments on my life and pain I've gone through, ok? You have no idea what pain truly is. You have no idea what my life has been like, or what I've gone through to be so 'down in the dumps serious.' So why don't just either get serious for once or just get lost, ok?" And then she looked up at him.

His eyes were downcast, and he was looking at the table. When she saw his hands grip the barrier between the two of them, she thought he was going to leave. "Beast Boy…" she began.

"Alright," he said. But he didn't leave.

"I was raised in South Africa by my parents. You see, they were both scientists and they were studying the wildlife down there. Well, one day, I guess I had wandered too far away from them or something, I can't remember it that well, but this big monkey came out of nowhere and attacked me. It bit me, and I guess I got really sick. But my parents, the scientists they were, found a cure for me, and it was the first memory I really remember."

Raven's curiosity was now peaked.

"It was the most painful thing I had ever gone through. The serum they developed got rid of the disease, but it changed me. It turned my skin green and gave me my powers, but it destroyed me inside. It turned me into a freak, a monster. A stupid, little green kid. I wasn't ever the same after that."

Suddenly, Raven's curiosity was gone, along with any ill thoughts of before.

"But after that things were fine until I was about 10, I guess. I don't really remember that well either…cause I guess I didn't want to. My parents were out on a river in a boat…they lost control or something…and the rapids were so fast that they couldn't get control or something…and then they smashed into a rock…and I saw them go under and…and…"

Tears were now starting to fall down Beast Boy's cheeks, and Raven felt her own tears showing on her shocked face. She had know about what had happened to Beast Boy, but she never KNEW…

Beast Boy wiped the tears from his eyes and continued on. "So after that, I wound up being 'adopted' by this jackass named Galtry. He hated my parents, and he hated me. He just wanted their money, but I was standing in his way. So he tried to kill me, but I managed to escape. I ran, I ran as far as I could, and I lived on my own for a while. A little, green kid living all by himself. It wasn't until I broke into the center for the Doom Patrol that I finally had a home, and they took me in because they thought I had skills. And I slaved away training there, just trying to be accepted. Trying to be good enough to be one of them."

He slammed his fist on the table.

"But even that wasn't good enough. It was like no matter what…what I did…it was never good enough…ever. I couldn't save my parents…I couldn't be good enough for Galtry…I couldn't be good enough for the Doom Patrol…I couldn't be good enough…I just can't ever be good enough…"

Beast Boy was trying to bite back the tears that threatened to fall again. Raven reached out a hand towards his.

"Beast Boy…I'm sorry…I had no idea."

He shook off her hand and got up from his seat.

"Let's just go." And he started to head for the door.

"Beast Boy," Raven called after him as he went out the door. She followed after him.

"Beast Boy!" she called again, as he turned a corner and hid out behind the coffee place. He finally turned and looked at her, eyes red and fierce. He then yelled at her, blinded by his pain.

"You know what? You've got some nerve, Raven! You think that I haven't had pain in my life? How could you think something like that! Well, you know what, I'm sorry…I'm sorry I can't be serious enough for you or something like that, but I don't like to be. I…I don't want to relive those days, Raven! I…I just want to be accepted for once. I don't want to be alone…I want to be good enough…"

Raven came over and held him, and her own silent tears started falling, along with his. For her, there was no point in concealing her emotions right now.

"I'm sorry Beast Boy. I'm sorry."

"Me too, Rae. Me too."


	7. Discotheque

Thank you again to everyone who has been reading/faving/reviewing this story. I hoped you enjoyed the last chapter, that moment with BB and Raven was definitely something I had kicking around in my head for a while before writing out this story. I hope you continue to enjoy, so here's the next chapter.

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_Chapter 7: Discotheque_

Raven and Beast Boy came back to the Tower around four in the afternoon, much calmer then they had been beforehand. After their emotional breakdown, they had a really good talk and were actually acting…well _nice_ around one another. Unfortunately, their good times were about to end, as Robin was waiting for them when they entered the tower.

"Well, nice to see you two again. Where the hell have you been?" he demanded.

"Out," said Raven. "What's it to you?"

"What's it to me? I'm the leader of this team, damn it, and we just had our asses handed to us by an enemy that we don't know anything about despite MY best attempts to look for info, and Cyborg's more worried about his car then that, I don't know where Starfire is at but she's not answering me at her door, and you two are off on some little DATE or something…"

"Hold it right there," cut in Raven, blushing slightly under her hood. "We were not out on some date. We were just…enjoying some lunch. Now if you excuse me, I have to go meditate." And with that she started floating down the hall.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Robin yelled after her.

"Dude, Robin. Get a grip. Let her go do her meditate thingy," said Beast Boy, grabbing his leader's arm.

"Oh, don't you even start with me Beast Boy. You're on a short enough leash as it is. What the hell was all this anyway?"

"It was us getting away from your OCD that's filling this tower."

"You've got a smart mouth, Beast Boy, and it's gonna cost you one day," Robin said. "You have no idea how you two could have jeopardized the team. We have some kind of crazed psychopath sorcerer on the loose threatening to destroy the world, and YOU had to go and get something to eat with Raven? What if something had happened?"

At this comment, after the emotional roller coaster of the day, Beast Boy exploded at his leader. "Jeopardizing the team? Robin, are you blind? Something HAS happened! Everyone's been on high tension for nearly a week now. Star's been so upset she can't even FLY anymore, but you, Mr. Leader of this Team, have been so focused on looking for info on what's his name that you've been oblivious to the rest of us here! Talking about jeopardizing the team? You're the one jeopardizing our team!"

"Beast Boy, we've got a villain on the loose that we couldn't beat who could very well kill us all. I've been the only one who's been trying to find out more about this guy. The rest of you all have been so caught up in your own things that you haven't helped at all. So how in the hell am I the one jeopardizing the team?"

"Robin, we're all heroes, we get it. But we're all more than just that. All except you. That's all you can be, is a hero. You're too obsessed with playing cops and robbers to treat the rest of us like friends, like we really matter. For you its all the Teen Titans, led by Robin, featuring the rest of us."

Robin, getting even more offended, tried to defend himself. "Well, guess what Beast Boy? We ARE the Teen Titans. We're supposed to be the good guys and go take care of the bad guys. That is our job! And for your information, I do care about my teammates. I'm the one who's looking out for our survival by trying to find this guy!"

"Yeah, you do care, Robin, but only on your own terms. It's only when you WANT to care about us! Yeah, we're heroes, but there's more to us then that. We work better as a TEAM of heroes when we all treat each other like a TEAM. This isn't a JOB, Robin! This is like our family, and you're letting it fall apart! Starfire's been sick with herself because you won't give her any attention, you're so focused on your own bullshit! So she's been locked up in her room all the time. That's why you can't find her; that's why she won't talk to you, she isn't talking to ANYONE!"

Robin was a bit taken aback at this. "Wait…I did that?"

Beast Boy was dumbfounded. "Are you really this dense, Bird-Brain? And this is how you treat ALL of us. Raven and I didn't do anything wrong, but you came in here and gave us all the third degree, and yelled at her, and she didn't do anything. You always treat me like I can't do anything ever. Like without you, we'd be screwed or something. But you know what Robin? We're more than just heroes! We're supposed to be friends, for crying out loud! Friends are there for one another! But for you, its always been hero and leader first, and everything else a distant second!"

Robin was shocked. He sat down on the couch, completely blown away. "Have I really acted this way…is this really how I've treated you all?"

Beast Boy still couldn't believe it. "See Robin, this is what I mean. You simply assume that everything's going just fine and the team is doing just fine because you're doing fine, but we aren't. We all know there's a crazed guy out there threatening to destroy the world, but we're worthless as a team unless we are able to really care about each other and treat each other as people. We're trusting you and trying to be real friends to you Robin, and it's about damn time you stepped up and did the same for us!"

Robin looked up at Beast Boy. "…I'm sorry, Beast Boy."

"Yeah, you're damn right you're sorry! And another thing…" Beast Boy stopped mid-sentence.

"Wait. What did you say?"

"I'm sorry. I know it sounds stupid, but I really didn't realize that I was that bad. All my life that's all I've been able to do is be a hero. It's who I have to be, Beast Boy. I have to be a hero, I don't know how to be anything else. But that's no excuse for how I've been acting. I didn't realize I was treating you guys this way. I'm sorry."

Usually Beast Boy would have been a bit more skeptic, but he looked at Robin and saw something he had never seen before. Robin looked defeated.

"I just…don't know what to do…"

"Well, Robin, I suggest you figure it out. Especially for Starfire's sake."

"I know…I will…I just need to think about it."

Beast Boy smiled. "Well, ok then Robin. There's always time to change."

But Robin still wasn't satisfied. "But what about this Leon guy? How am I supposed to not put myself into finding him?"

"Robin, we're not saying that you can't," Beast Boy said. "But don't forget about us out here either. We're here to help you out, too. We're your friends. We all want to find this guy, Robin. But we're not good to each other if we've got our own problems going on, too. We've got to know where those lines are at and when to cross them."

Robin looked up at Beast Boy, with at least a bit of the load off of his shoulders. "Thanks Beast Boy. I owe you one."

"No problem, Rob."

"So, let me try this friendship before leadership thing out, ok?" asked Robin.

"Um, ok," Beast Boy said.

"So," began Robin, "um…what was that? With Raven?"

"Um…" mumbled Beast Boy, who was starting to blush. "Well…we, uh…we…we just had lunch and a good talk. That's all."

"Really? Is that all?" Robin slyly asked.

"Well, um…" Beast Boy fumbled around. "I don't know. I mean…it's not like I _like_ her like that or something…I guess. But I mean, yeah she can be kinda cold at times, but there are times when she can be really…awesome." He sighed. "But it doesn't matter. I doubt she'd even be interested in someone like me anyway."

"Well, you'll never know unless you take a shot."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Robin smirked, "But I'm willing to bet you'd have a pretty good shot."

Beast Boy looked over at him. "You think so?"

They both sat in silence for a bit. "So…um," began Beast Boy. "What have you found out about this Leon guy?"

"Not much," said Robin. "It's really frustrating. But even more then that, I'm trying to figure out how he exactly plans to destroy the world. It's not exactly an easy task or something. I don't see how he could just suddenly destroy the whole damn thing."

"Well, maybe he can't," Beast Boy simply said. "Maybe he's got another way of doing it then just outright blowing up the whole damn planet." Robin looked surprised for a moment, then began to think about it.

"Yeah," he said. "Maybe he can't."

Beast Boy and Robin both sat there for a while, thinking over their respective problems, then they eventually both went back to their rooms. The day continued on without much of a hitch or contact between the Titans.

Robin stayed in his room, but not because he was looking for more info about Leon. _What can I do to make this up to Starfire? I've got to start acting better towards her, but that's not enough. Oh, come on Bird-Brain..um Robin! You've defeated criminal masterminds, certainly you can figure this one out. Right?_

_Oh boy, this is going to be tougher than I thought._

Beast Boy was still reflecting over the day. "I didn't realize Raven could be that nice at times. Wait! I didn't really mean that…did I? Oh man, oh man, oh man…this can't be good. She can't honestly really care about me like that. It couldn't happen. I mean, I've always thought she was nice and all that, but, she really couldn't be looking for something like that." Beast Boy sighed.

"Yeah, I doubt she'd feel the same as I do. What a mess, Beast Boy," he mumbled as he laid down on his bed.

Raven was also trying to figure out just what happened that day, as she sat on her bed. _I can't believe that Beast Boy could have gone through that. I can understand why he'd want to always try to be happy and not be serious about things. I know I've been through hell, but it sounds like he has, too. I never realized that he was that deep._

_And as weird as it sounds, today was...fun. Hell, I even enjoyed being with...Beast Boy._

Her eyes opened wide. _That couldn't have been me, right?_

_Oh why do these things only seem to happen to me? I bet he isn't even thinking about this at all, and here I'm about to freak out like we're going out or something. Just calm down Raven. Calm down. Why do I have to have these damn thoughts?_

_I hope he enjoyed today, too. Damn it!_

Starfire seemed to be without any energy at all. For the past few days she had simply resigned herself to trying to appear happy for her teammates' sake in public, while she sat on her bed and moped. She silently hoped against hope for something to help her out. _Please Robin, don't do this anymore. Please._

The Titans tried to get some rest that night, though it wasn't easy, in part because of the thoughts in their heads, and in part because of the noise they continued to hear coming from the garage as Cyborg continued to work diligently, albeit noisily, on the T-car.

Evening came, and morning followed.

Though it was early afternoon before anyone really began stirring. Mostly because of Cyborg. His diligent, and noisy, work was finally rewarded as he emerged from his workshop.

"WELL!" he yelled to signal his return from the garage to the rest of the team, who were nowhere in sight, "it took nearly 2 days of work and all of my incredible skill and ability, but the T-car is as good as new!"

"Good job, Cyborg," Robin said, coming out of his room to hear what the noise was about.

"Way to go, Cy! When can we go cruising?" asked Beast Boy.

"Yes, friend Cyborg. When can we undertake the action of cruise?" asked Starfire.

"Well, I was thinking we could hit up that music place Bee was telling us about for a celebration. It sounds like fun. And I think we could all use a break from worrying about the guy who trashed my baby."

Starfire was excited. "Oh yes! That would be most enjoyable!"

Robin wanted to interject though. "Well, I think that it…"

However, he caught Beast Boy's eye, and took the hint.

"…is a really good idea. Let's do it, Cy."

And then Cyborg's jaw hit the floor, and Star's nearly did, as well.

"Wait a minute," said Cyborg. "No 'but what about this villian' or 'we should be training' or something like that? No business??? You…_you_…actually want to have…fun??? What have you done with Robin? Answer me, damn you!" he yelled as he started to shake his leader violently, wondering what change had occurred.

But Starfire was ecstatic. "Oh Robin, it will be most glorious!" _Yes! Now we may spend the "time together!"_

Robin smiled. "I hope it is, Star."

"What are we going to?" Raven asked, as she just walked into the common room.

"Only the hippest dance place in town," said Cyborg. "It'll be fun."

"Whoopie," Raven stated flatly. "Sounds enjoyable." But when she caught Beast Boy's eye, she had just the faintest smile. For only a second.

"Oh, it will be excellent!" exclaimed Starfire, excited to be able to finally do something after moping around for so long. "Come, friend Raven. Let us pick out the clothing for tonight!"

"Um, actually Star, I'd really rather YIPE!" Unfortunately for Raven, she didn't have much choice in the matter, as Star grabbed her wrist and flew off towards her room.

"Well, that will be interesting," remarked Cyborg. "But I still want to know what happened up here while I was gone. What about the villain? What about us getting our butts kicked? What happened to all the hero business that we should be taking care of? And why the hell do YOU want to have fun, Robin?!?!?!"

"Well…uh…" Robin mumbled. "I just thought that it might be more worth it to do something as friends instead of heroes, for once. Besides, I still have more work to look over before we can get a real plan together for what we're going to do…so um…yeah…" And with that, he left to go to his room.

Cyborg was still dumbfounded, much to Beast Boy's delight. "What did you do to Bird-Brain? He's actually acting like a real human being. I didn't know he could do that."

Beast Boy laughed. "Well, sometimes you just have to talk to him the right way, I guess." The Titans then went through preparing for the night ahead.

Night finally arrived, and the Titans had decided to actually wear something other than their costumes for once, well except for Cyborg. Robin and Beast Boy were both wearing just generic street clothes, and Robin still had his mask on, as if it were painted onto his face.

Starfire had on a skirt and jacket, which seemed to have some kind of effect on Robin, because after he saw her he found it remarkably hard to communicate.

"Um…you look…wow…you look…very nice…wow…Star"

Starfire was a bit puzzled. "Um…thank you Robin?"

Raven silently laughed. It had only taken Starfire three hours to pick out just the outfit that would have that kind of an effect on Robin. Raven herself had decided to go with something more simple, a dark sweater with a black skirt for her. She really didn't want to wear street clothes to this, but Starfire wouldn't have it, so Raven finally relented.

Beast Boy had also noticed. "Hey Raven. You aren't wearing your uniform?"

"Um…yeah," she replied. "Neither are you."

"No…um…I knew that," he nervously mumbled. "I just meant that you look different."

"Different, huh?" she asked.

"AAAH! Well, not different bad…or something like that…um…but…YOU JUST LOOK VERY PRETTY TONIGHT," Beast Boy said, too nervous to control the level of his voice. Both he and Raven were both incredibly embarrassed, and so he just slunk into the elevator.

When Raven got in there, she turned to look at Beast Boy, who was expecting a 'how dare you embarrass me like that death gaze.' Instead, what he got was:

"Thank you, Beast Boy." He smiled his acknowledgement. _PHEW!_

The Titans were on their way, and soon they were at the dance hall that Bumblebee had talked about, Discotheque.

"Wow! Look at this place," exclaimed Beast Boy when they were inside.

With the dark lights on, and strobe lights going to the beat, the place was pretty cool. The shining disco ball at the top was the icing on the cake, and the music pumping through the speakers was really good.

"Hey guys!" called out a familiar voice. "Hey Bee!" called Cyborg back, as Bumblebee flew to meet them.

"Is this place cool or what?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool," agreed Robin.

"Well, go on then guys and gals," she said. "Get out on that floor! Come on, Sparky. You're with me," she said as she drug Cyborg out into the crowd. Soon they were dancing it up and having a great time.

Robin then turned to Starfire. "Hey…so um, Starfire…would you…um…like to dance?"

Starfire, who was still confused by this turn around in Robin's behavior, but eager to dance, answered "Oh yes, Robin! Let us go!" And she in turn dragged him out onto the dance floor.

Beast Boy turned to Raven. "Would you want to dance?"

Raven just flatly stated "I don't dance."

Beast Boy nodded, and decided not to push it. _Besides,_ he figured, _I can have a great time out there all by myself anyway! Watch out ladies! Beast Boy's in the house!_

Time had passed and the dancing was still going on. Raven had floated over to where the tables and chairs were at and was listening to the music, and trying to watch her friends. Cyborg and Bumblebee were having a good time, and it appeared as though Robin and Starfire were too.

Robin was desperately trying to tell Starfire anything, but she was unable to hear him.

"I THINK YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL!"

"WHAT?"

"I LIKE SPENDING TIME WITH YOU!"

"WHAT?"

"DO YOU LIKE THIS SONG?"

"WHAT?"

_ARGH! This could be going better..._

And while Raven was happy to see her friends having fun, she wasn't having much fun at all. She started to look for Beast Boy, half expecting him to be surrounded by some of the girls at the dance.

"Are you having fun yet?"

The question surprised Raven, but the voice did not. Beast Boy had found his way over to her.

"Do you want my 'keep everyone happy' answer, or the truth?" she asked.

Beast Boy only smiled as he sat down in the chair next to her. Raven sighed.

"No, not really. Sorry."

"It's ok," said Beast Boy. "Why don't you like dancing?"

"Well," she began, "It's not that I don't like dancing in general. Just not this kind of stuff."

Beast Boy nodded in understanding.

"And…well, I just never felt like I knew how to…I guess."

"Well, its not hard," said Beast Boy. "You just move to the groove of the music, and let your body do the rest," as he got up and tried to do a cool-looking dance move.

"That's not exactly what I meant," said Raven. "Dancing requires people to be…you know…happy, or something. And as much as I don't want to admit it…I haven't had a lot to be happy about in my life. Like you said once, 'I don't do happy.'" Raven then looked down at her feet, regretting that she'd even come to this dance in the first place.

"I never really had a dance that I've ever enjoyed. Hell…I've never even really been to a 'dance' at all. There's never been a reason for me to. So why would I want to go?"

"Well Raven," said Beast Boy, "Sometimes you've got to look to find happiness in your life, you know? It doesn't always just seem to fall right into your lap. You've got to be willing to put all that hurt aside and try to find that happiness, or else, you might never find it again. Sometimes, you just gotta…take a chance."

And Raven turned up to look at his smiling face. And for the first time in a long while, Raven genuinely smiled back.

Sadly, the good moment was not to last, for a loud crash stopped the music as part of a side wall was blown out in a massive explosion. The Titans looked with dismay.

Leon had returned.


	8. Love Is Blindness

Thank you again to all of those who have been reading and enjoying this story, and thank you for your feedback. Here is the next chapter, so I hope you all enjoy.

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_Chapter 8: Love Is Blindness_

The dance was definitely over. The crowd of people who had been enjoying themselves on the dance floor were now rushing out the door, as Bumblebee was escorting them out.

"Yes! Run! Run and hide! It will do you no good! For hear me, petty fools, your world is doomed!" cackled Leon. He then looked down and took notice of the Titans.

"Well, Titans! We meet again," he sneered. "I hope you have had time to consider my generous offer."

"Yeah, we considered it," said Robin. "No deal, Leon."

He merely laughed. "Are you so sure? Think about it Titans. I could share with you the secrets of the universe. The power hidden throughout the millennia could be given to you if you simply submit towards my will. I have elevated myself beyond the limits of the rest of these mortal fools! I could share my secrets with you. I could share my power with you. Are you really willing to throw away a chance like this?"

Robin merely narrowed his eyes in contempt. "You are the fool! We'd never submit to your rule. You have no power over us, Leon, and we will defeat you! No deal!"

Leon sighed. "Oh, Titans. Today is not your day. For today, you have made your last mistake!" And the sorcerer's eyes started to glow red, and a red aura started to surround him.

"I WILL TEAR YOUR WORLD APART PIECE BY PIECE!!!"

"Ok, Titans. This time let's stick together, and everyone be careful," Robin said. "Titans, GO!"

Starfire and Raven took to the skies to bring Leon back down to Earth. Raven began to chant as she focused her powers towards the sorcerer.

"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos!" and as before, a pair of dark magic hands encased Leon, holding him tight. But the sorcerer merely laughed.

"Please, my dear, I believe you've already tried this before," said Leon smugly.

"But now she is trying THIS!" shouted Starfire, as Leon broke free just in time to get blasted by Starfire's eyebeam.

"AAH!" yelled the sorcerer as he flew into a crumbling wall of the building.

"Good shot, Star," Robin said. "Beast Boy, Cyborg, let's get in there!" shouted their leader as the they rushed into the fray.

Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla and the three male Titans surrounded the sorcerer. As soon as he came out of the rubble, he was met with a massive hit from a charging Beast Boy, which sent him sprawling right into Robin, who met the sorcerer with a few well placed kicks of his own.

And then the sorcerer flew to the other wall from a massive shot from Cyborg's sonic cannon. It seemed as though the Titans had finally figured out a good way to attack Leon, as they regrouped on the other side of the dance hall. "Good job, team," called Robin. "But I don't think he's done yet!"

"Not bad, Titans…" Leon said as he emerged from the rubble of the other wall. "Clearly, I have underestimated you. I guarantee I will do that no LONGER!" he yelled as he sent a massive energy wave towards the team.

The Titans were lucky enough to dodge the onslaught, which blew a hole through the wall, and likely would have through them as well.

"Oh man," said Beast Boy. "How can this guy get any tougher? Now what are we gonna do?"

"We'll just have to keep fighting," said Robin. "Let's go, guys! Titans…"

But Robin's battle cry was cut short, as the sorcerer teleported behind him and knocked him down with a hit to his back. "Now you fools will see my awesome power!" he screamed as he turned and blasted Robin into a pillar that was supporting the crumbling roof.

"Robin!" yelled Starfire, who became enraged and began to send a volley of starbolts straight at Leon.

However, the sorcerer merely extended his hand, and he was able to stop all of the starbolts in midair. Slowly, they started to turn from green to red. "Why don't you try a bit of your own medicine?" laughed Leon, as he sent the supercharged shots back at her, exploding in her face and knocking her to the ground.

"Oh, you are going to pay for that!" yelled Cyborg, as he and Raven both sent blasts of energy his way. However, the sorcerer was able to teleport safely away, and sent a blast of fire at Cyborg, sending him crashing into a wall.

"Now for you, sorceress!" yelled Leon as he began charging up his power for a massive shot. Raven frantically began chanting a counter as he let loose the attack.

"Azerath, Metrion, Zin-"

However, before she could finish the counter, she was pushed out of the way of the blast by another, and both of them fell on the ground as yet another massive hole in one of the walls was blown out.

"Ugh," she said in surprise. "Beast Boy? What the hell did you do that for?"

Beast Boy looked at her. "Well, you were just standing there. I panicked! Besides, I just saved your life! You could be more grateful! Is that really how you THANK people for doing you a favor?"

She just glared at him. "I had it under control. I was going to counter his blast, and SEND IT BACK AT HIM! But then you got in my way!"

"Ha ha!" laughed Leon. "Well isn't this adorable? Shapeshifter, you continue to amuse me with your stupid antics. Now DIE!" as he threw a fireball towards the two of them. Both were able to jump just at the right time to dodge Leon's attack.

Unfortunately for Beast Boy, the sorcerer then teleported right behind him as he landed. "Huh?" said Beast Boy as he was grabbed from behind and hoisted up into the air.

The sorcerer started to fly up into the air, and Beast Boy started to freak out. "Hey, dude! Let me go! I don't wanna FLY!!!"

"Beast Boy!" yelled Raven.

But then Beast Boy got an idea, and transformed into an elephant. The sorcerer couldn't react quickly enough and soon both fell back down to earth with a powerful crash.

"Good thinking, BB," said Cyborg. However, the team started to hear a loud rumbling noise. The effect of an elephant falling and crashing to the ground did not help the dance hall in the slightest. What was left standing of the building started to collapse right on top of the Titans.

"YAAAAHHH!!!"

Afterwards, once the Titans had crawled out of the wreckage, they couldn't find Leon anywhere. "Did we really defeat him?" asked Beast Boy.

"I doubt it," said Robin.

"No thanks to you, Beast Boy," jeered Raven. "Way to bring the house down."

"Hey!" he exclaimed. "I didn't attack the place!"

"Well, it sure looks like you did!" she quipped back.

"Friends, please! Let us not argue!" begged Starfire.

"She's right guys," said Robin. "Let's just go back to the tower and drop it, ok?"

But they couldn't drop it. On the way home neither one said a thing to each other, but continued to drop hints at the other Titans.

"Hey Starfire," said Beast Boy. "Could you tell Ms. Ungrateful over there that she should thank people for saving her life every once in a while?"

"Beast Boy," said Robin, "Knock it off."

"Star," said Raven. "Could you tell Mr. Brainless over there that he should think before deciding to turn into a five ton animal and leveling a building while we're inside it?"

"Raven," said Robin, "You too."

Once they got home, things didn't get any better. The rest of the Titans tried to just hang out in the kitchen, and leave Beast Boy and Raven alone in the common room. But they still could hear their teammates yelling. They tried their best to ignore it, but it was hard to not watch the car wreck that was happening in the other room.

"I just don't understand it, Raven. I tried to save your life, and then I have to save my own, and all I can get is grief from you. Why is that?"

"Why? WHY? Because you don't think, that's why! I had that situation under my control. I was going to reflect that blast right back at Leon, and that could have ended the battle, and then YOU wouldn't have had to create a seismic wave that toppled the damn building! But no, I have to be Beast Boy and so I have to be stupid and throw myself into my friend because she can't handle herself, and then I have to turn into the largest animal I can think of and crash into the ground and bring the whole PLACE down with me!"

"But what if your plan didn't work, Raven?"

"It would have, Beast Boy."

"But what if it didn't?"

"Oh, so now you think that I'm too weak, huh? Is that it Beast Boy?"

"No, that's not it at all!"

"Then why do you have to go and be so chivalrous all the time then, huh? Defending poor, weak little Raven. I don't see you sticking your neck out for Cyborg or Robin like that, so why me, huh? Why me, Beast Boy?"

"…Because I worry about you," Beast Boy meekly replied.

"You're worried about me? Well, I got news for you Beast Boy. I can take care of myself! In case you haven't noticed, I'm a superhero, too. Remember, powers? I don't need people to worry about me. So what reason could you possibly have to be that worried about me that you always have to be around me and always trying to defend me?!?!"

"Maybe because I love you, huh? Did that ever occur to you?" shouted Beast Boy. Everyone's eyes suddenly grew wide in shock, Beast Boy's included. Cyborg had dropped his collector's glass that he was getting a drink out of, and it shattered on the floor, but no one paid any heed to that. For suddenly all heads turned towards Beast Boy, who had somehow gone from his usual shade of green to an unbelievable shade of red.

Beast Boy was as equally surprised at himself for saying that. _Well...at least I said it..._

"You…love me?" Raven said questioningly, who was also blushing heavily as well. Beast Boy was still riled up from the argument, and did not take that comment quite so well. His color faded, and anger and annoyance replaced his shock as he finally found his voice again.

"Yes," he said. "I love you, Rae. Little, annoying, green Beast Boy loves you, ok? Fat lot of good that does, cause you clearly can't possibly feel the same way! Every time I try to do something for you, it blows up in my face or you just chew me out anyway! I can't do ANYTHING right for you, Raven! And why is that? Why do you treat my like shit when all I try to do is make you happy?!?! Huh, Raven? Why is that?"

He then took a few paces towards her. "You know, all I do is try! Everyone else treats me well, but it's still you that I continue to put forth that extra effort for, and I can't understand why! You never treat me like a friend! You clearly can't stand to be around me! But then why do you continue to be around me then? Why, Raven? Why do you continue to mock and cut down someone that you always spend time around?!?!?!"

"You idiot," she said, now equally pissed off. "Maybe because I love you, too!" Everyone's eyes got even wider. The collective jaws of Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg all fell to the floor. Beast Boy was taken aback, and his knees shook so violently he could have sworn there was an earthquake. But Raven was upset, and tears started to form in her eyes. The three in the kitchen began to start hearing the sound of things in their cupboards shattering.

"But I can't love you, Beast Boy! I just can't! Emotions for me aren't the same as emotions for the rest of you! You'll feel bad because of your emotions. Mine could kill people! I can't be allowed to feel that, Beast Boy! I can't!"

Beast Boy was in total shock, and now in disappointment. The girl he had just told that he loved said that she loved him back, but that she won't do anything about it. _Because I'm not good enough..._

"You can't, or you won't?" he asked. "When you were with Malchior, you seemed to be pretty happy and no one died, so why not me, huh?!?!"

"How dare you!" she snarled. "How can you possibly bring that up! That was not the same as this is! And you know what, for the record, I don't think you'd really ever want to be with me anyway! I'm sorry that I can't be happy for you Beast Boy, that I can't be like your little team-traitor Terra and just fall into your arms!"

Beast Boy stiffened up. "You do not get to talk about her like that. She wasn't like that, Raven, and you know it!"

"Whatever, Beast Boy," said Raven, sadly. "Whatever. What could you possibly see in me anyway?" And then she turned and teleported into her room. And she cried. Every light bulb that she came in contact with shattered, but she didn't care.

_I hate my stupid powers!_

_I hate my stupid emotions!_

_I hate myself! Why does it have to be this way?_

Back in the common room, Beast Boy merely stood there, unable to move. The other Titans were scared to move as well, but Starfire was silently crying. Robin noticed this and held her close. Cyborg was the first to leave the "safe" confines of the kitchen, where every plate, bowl, and glass had shattered. He put his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, BB," Cyborg said softly. "Come on, let's get you back to your room."

Beast Boy silently nodded, and slowly the two walked out of the common room.

Robin and Starfire began to silently pick up the pieces of the broken plates and glass. After they were done, they just sat on the couch in silence for a while. Neither one knew what to say, as they were both concerned with Beast Boy and Raven's problems, but they still had not figured out how to resolve their own.

"I should probably go have the girl talk with Raven," Starfire said after a while.

"Yeah," agreed Robin. "I think I'll go talk to Beast Boy, too." They both left in silence to go their opposite paths.

"Raven…" Starfire called, while knocking on her door. "Please Raven, let us talk about this…"

"Go away, Starfire," she heard muffled through the door.

"Please friend Raven. Friends are there to help other friends out. I would wish to help you out, now."

Starfire waited a minute, then saw Raven open the door.

"Oh Raven!" she said. Raven's eyes were red, and she had been crying. Starfire quickly entered Raven's room.

Starfire sat in a chair in her room, while Raven sat on her bed, her back to Starfire. They sat this way for a while, before Starfire finally spoke.

"I am sorry that you are hurting, Raven. I am sure that Beast Boy did not want to hurt you."

Raven didn't move.

"But I think that he was also right. Deceived though you were by Malchior, you were able to be happy without causing massive destruction or death."

Raven nodded, her head still down.

"So why did you say those things to Beast Boy?"

Raven wanted to explode. She wanted to yell. She wanted to tell Starfire to leave, that nothing was wrong, that she didn't love Beast Boy. She wanted to go deep within her head, brainwash herself into believing that this was all just a dream, and that she'd wake up and everything would be as it always was.

Instead, she turned to face her friend.

"I'm scared…Star…"

Starfire went to sit by her friend.

"I'm scared. Malchior…he hurt me in ways I didn't think were possible," as she started to tear up. "What if it happens again, Star? What if I hurt him? I don't know if I could bear it…"

"I understand, Raven," said Starfire. "But I think that Beast Boy is not Malchior. I do not believe he would want to hurt you. I believe he said he loves you. And there is nothing better then that," she said as she placed her arm around her friend.

"It can be hard, and you may still hurt. But it can be worth it Raven. Do not be afraid of it."

Raven nodded.

And the two sat there in silence for a while, amidst the torn curtains in her room.

"Hey Beast Boy," said Robin, as he knocked on the door. "Can I come in?"

Beast Boy opened the door. "Yeah," he simply said, then walked back to his bed and sat down. Robin walked in and leaned against the wall. He knew that he had to say _something_ to Beast Boy. He just wasn't sure what. The silence had become almost deafening when someone finally made a noise.

"Any news on Leon?" Beast Boy asked. Robin was surprised, given what had happened out there, that this is the question he would have raised. He sensed that Beast Boy was trying to avoid the subject.

"A little, I guess. I might have an idea as to how he plans to get rid of Earth," he began, as he went through in his head how he was concocting the perfect plan, but then he stopped. "…but I have to work more on it," he finished. He couldn't get caught up in his own stuff now.

Beast Boy nodded silently.

The two then sat in awkward silence again for a while until Beast Boy finally spoke up again.

"I blew it, didn't I?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so," said Robin. "I think you're both just shocked right now. Granted, that probably wasn't the best way to go about sharing your feelings with each other…"

"Thanks, Robin."

"But, at least you had the balls to do it," and Beast Boy looked up at him. "I can't even go and tell Starfire how I really feel cause I'm too scared."

"Dude, how do you think I feel right now?" said Beast Boy. "I'm terrified! I was completely open and honest, and now Raven could just throw that all away! She even said that she loved me, but she's too scared! She was there for that moment, but then she's gone yet again. She hid herself from me. What am I going to do?"

"Well, maybe you could try to do something really nice for her. Ease her out of her shell. Maybe something that isn't so shocking as what happened tonight, huh?"

Beast Boy scoffed. "Yeah…" But then he began to think of an idea, the perfect idea. "Yeah…Hey, Robin?"

"Yeah, Beast Boy?"

"Remember how you said you owe me one?" he asked.

"Um, yeah," said Robin. "What about it?"

Beast Boy then proceeded to tell Robin his idea and his request.

"Wow, that's actually a really good idea, Beast Boy. Ok, I'll get Star and Cyborg out of the tower with me."

"Thanks, Robin."

"Do you think it will work?" he asked Beast Boy. Beast Boy looked down at the ground as he thought.

"I don't know," he said. "But I hope so."

Robin nodded and then turned to leave. "I just wonder what we'll do."

Beast Boy smiled. "Well, maybe you could tell Star how you really feel, for once."

Robin grinned as he shook his head. "Yeah, maybe…"


	9. All I Want Is You

Ok, fair warning to all of you. There are lyrics to a song in this chapter. Yes, I know. Sigh…a _songfic_. I swore I wasn't going to do this, but it's not overwhelming, and its not the entire chapter (and so I don't think it really qualifies, but I thought I'd warn y'all anyway). And this is the only time for this story, I promise. Besides, I think it compliments the chapter nicely. So again, thank you to all who have been keeping up with this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Peace.

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_Chapter 9: All I Want Is You_

Beast Boy didn't sleep much that night. He spent the much of the night putting his plan together in his head, and hoping against hope that it would work. He had certainly come up with plans before, but usually these were weeks and months in advance. He had one night to put this together, and the thought was driving him insane. He tossed and turned throughout the night, with one simple thought occupying his mind at all times.

_I just hope that she likes it._

The next day came, and the tower was unusually quiet. With neither Beast Boy nor Raven leaving their rooms for most of the day, it wasn't surprising. Robin decided to share some of Beast Boy's plan with Cyborg and Starfire. Cyborg was actually impressed.

"Wow. This is a side of BB I never knew he had," remarked Cyborg.

"Yeah, I know," said Robin. "But I told him that'd we'd do it. After all the stuff he's done for us, I think we can owe him at least this one little favor."

"Hey, I'm all for helping the lovebirds in this tower figure things out," Cyborg said, with a smirk towards Robin that caused him to glare back at Cyborg, "But after all the stuff that he's put US through I don't think he's deserves to get a favor from me like that!"

"Oh, but Cyborg!" began Starfire.

But he cut her off. "Don't worry, little lady. I'll still leave the tower for BB and Raven. But he owes me for this one! Besides…" he continued, blushing slightly, "I've already got something planned for tonight anyway. Later, y'all," he said as he walked off towards his room.

"Jeez, Cyborg…" said Robin as he shook his head.

"So, Robin," began Starfire. "I guess you will want to spend your time looking for this Leon tonight…"

"Well…um…" he mumbled. "Actually, Star…I was…kinda hoping that we could go…you know…to the park…or something tonight…just the two of us?"

She looked at him curiously. It wasn't like Robin to be nervous around her like this. "Ok…Robin."

"Great!" he said. "Um…I guess I'll see you later tonight Star! Bye!" and he went off to his room, panicking about just what he was going to do that night.

_Oh man,_ thought Robin. _How am I going to do this?_

Starfire was still standing in the common room, now more confused than ever. She started to pace around the room with her thoughts. "First, he doesn't want to spend time with me. Now, he is nervous to spend time with me. I do not understand these Earth mating rituals at all!" she said in frustration as she flew off to her room.

Time passed quickly in the tower that day; well, except for Raven. She continued to sit in her room, too tired and worried to even be able to think straight.

_I can't love him. I can't! It's going to complicate things, and it will just make it harder for all of us! And..._

She closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands.

_I'm scared of being hurt. I'm scared of hurting him. I'm scared I'm not good enough._

She fell back on her bed in frustration.

_But how am I going to face him again? I can't just stay here forever. The odds are good that at some point, I will have to see Beast Boy again. Yes...the odds are overwhelming that I will have to see him again. What can I say? Is he really going to want to talk to me? Do I just pretend this didn't happen?_

_Oh Azar. What do I do?_

For her, the day continued to drag on and on, with her thoughts continuing to circle in her head.

Eventually, it got into the late afternoon. Cyborg had already left, for whatever he had going on later that night, and Robin and Starfire were planning on leaving soon so that Beast Boy could get ready.

"Hey, Beast Boy," said Robin, knocking on his door.

Beast Boy then opened up the door. "Hey, Robin. What's up?"

"What's up?" Robin repeated. "We're leaving. Remember?"

Beast Boy, tired, nervous, and having racked his brain all night to come up with this plan, blew a small gasket. "Remember? Of course I remember! Jeez! What kind of question is that?"

"Ok, ok," said Robin defensively. "I was just making sure." Beast Boy regained his cool, and turned back to his room to begin getting the things he would need to pull this off.

"Are you ready?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy turned to him and said, "I hope so." Robin nodded and turned to leave.

"Hey Robin," Beast Boy said, and Robin stopped in the doorway. "Are you ready?"

"I hope so, too." And then he walked away to go meet Starfire.

Robin and Starfire then left the tower, and Beast Boy got to work setting up his plan. They decided to go to dinner before heading out.

"Robin, do you think this plan of Beast Boy's will work?" Starfire asked him as they walked out of the tower.

"I don't know, Star," he said. "This is Beast Boy we're talking about here."

"Robin!" she exclaimed. "That is not a way to talk about our friend. You do not have enough faith in him!"

"No, I know that Star," Robin said, which made her even more confused. "It's surprised me just what he's capable of. So I don't know if it will work. A long time ago, I would have said that it would have failed outright, that Beast Boy and Raven couldn't have made it work. But now…"

"It just might work after all."

Starfire eyed him suspiciously, not quite sure what to make of his different demeanor. "You have changed, Robin."

Robin smirked. _I hope I have, Star._

Meanwhile, back at the Tower, Beast Boy was putting the finishing touches on his plan.

"Alright! It's done. Now let's just hope Raven will even come out of her room…"

_Or even talk to me anymore._

As he took that slow walk down the hall towards Raven's room, Beast Boy suddenly became very scared.

_Am I really about to do this? What if she says no? She's going to say no. She won't honestly want to come out here. She probably won't even want to talk to me, and then she'll think I'm an even bigger idiot than she already does. Oh man!_

Finally, he made it to her door, and he raised his hand to knock, but he couldn't do it.

_Can I really do this? She isn't going to like it. She never likes anything I do, so she probably won't like this. She doesn't even really like me. SHUT UP, BRAIN! You don't know what you're talking about! She said she loved me, right?_

Shaking his head, he tried to come to a decision.

_I'm not going to do it._

_I'm going to do it._

_I'm not going to do it._

_I'm going to do it._

_I'M NOT GOING TO DO IT!_

Knock.

_AHHHH!!! I did it! Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man!!!_

"Who is it?" he heard a familiar voice say from behind the door.

_AHHHH!!! She heard me!!! What do I do? What do I do?_

"Hello? Is someone there?" he heard the voice say.

He sighed. _Well, its too late now, Beast Boy! You better do something..._

"Um…it's me Raven…Beast Boy."

He didn't hear anything from behind the door, but he came too far now to just leave. He gulped, tried to gather up what courage he still had, and continued on.

"Look, Raven, I'm sorry for what happened yesterday…that we fought, not that I said what I said…cause I meant it. Unless you didn't…in which case I mean…um…"

_Smooth Beast Boy..._

"Look, I don't know if you really want to leave your room or be bothered right now or what, but I was hoping I could just convince you to come out of there for like 10 minutes or something. I have something that I wanted to show you."

Still nothing.

"And then I'll leave you alone or whatever you want, ok? Just please, just for a bit."

Beast Boy still waited for a response, but got nothing.

"Ok. It's alright. I'll see you later Raven." _I knew she wouldn't do it. She would never..._

But to his great surprise he heard the door open.

"Hey…Beast Boy," she said.

"Hey Raven," he said back.

They both stood in front of her door for a while.

"So…did you have something you wanted to show me?" she finally asked.

"Oh, yeah!" said Beast Boy. "Here, follow me!" he said, grabbing her hand and yanking her along to the common room.

"Ugh…Beast Boy! Let go of me! Where are we…" But she stopped and gasped when she saw the common room.

"Beast Boy…what is all this?" she asked.

For Beast Boy had decorated the common room, dimming the lights and putting streamers and banners up. He had fished out the white Christmas lights from the basement and hung them up along the walls, to add to the atmosphere. He had set up a spotlight that was shining down on the floor, and a great banner hung up that read: 'Titans Tower Dance.'

"Well," Beast Boy nervously began. "You said that you never really had a real dance before. So I thought, that maybe you should have one. I went and picked out good music, and set the place up just for both of us. I…hope you like it…"

Raven was beyond touched and still shocked. True, she didn't generally enjoy dancing, but Beast Boy had gone above and beyond, and all just for her. He had actually thought out something, and done something from his heart. She didn't know he had it in him.

Beast Boy then turned towards her. "So…Raven…would you like to dance?" he asked hopefully.

She just looked at him, still shocked, and simply nodded and gave him her hand.

He led her out to where the spotlight was shining down, pressed a button on the remote that started up the sound system. Raven didn't quite know what to expect for the music Beast Boy had picked, expecting something loud and boisterous and obnoxious, but was surprised when she heard gentle guitar chords playing.

Beast Boy then pulled her in, with his arms around her waist, and she put her arms on his shoulders, and they started to dance.

"Where did you find this?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. "But I heard it, and it reminded me of y…well, I really liked it."

The words of the song began to flow through the speakers.

_You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold_

_You say you want your story to remain untold_

_But all the promises we make_

_From the cradle to the grave_

_When all I want is you_

Beast Boy wanted to pull her in closer, and Raven let him, so that they were essentially hugging as they were slow dancing.

Meanwhile, Robin and Starfire had since finished their dinner, and were now out in the park, walking around at night. Starfire was still unsure of what to make over the change in Robin, and Robin was still scared out of his wits over what he was going to do.

"Robin," Starfire asked after a while.

"Yeah, Star. What is it?" he responded.

Starfire sighed in frustration, and then finally let it all out. "What has happened to you?"

Robin was a bit taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"First, you would rather spend time worrying about your bad guys and heroing than spend time with me! Now, you want to spend time with me, but the entire time you are nervous to even be around me! If you do not want to be around me, then why are you?" she screamed, unable to take any more of this.

"Star, please, let me explain…" he began.

"NO! No more 'Star please,'" she said. "I have been patient, and tried to wait for you to make up your mind, but I cannot wait any more Robin! You ignore me, then want to do the hanging out, but you are too afraid to talk to me! Why do you act this way, Robin? I know that you do not really love me, so why do you act this way?"

"But Star, I…"

"You what, Robin?"

Robin stopped, and took a deep breath.

"I do love you Star."

Star was even more confused than before. "So, now you love me! First you say you do, but then you act as if you don't! You say you love me. Yet you are scared to spend time with me, to be with me? What kind of love is that Robin?"

"Star, I'm not scared to be with you. I feel my best when I'm around you. I'm scared that…"

Star waited for an answer.

"…I'm scared that I'm not good enough for you." And Robin then had to sit down on the bench nearby, he couldn't stay standing, his knees were too weak.

Starfire's gaze softened a bit.

_You say you'll give me a highway with no one on it_

_Your treasure just to look upon it_

_All the riches in the night_

"I'm scared Star, that I'm only going to hurt you again. That if I'm not a hero, then I'm nothing. It's all I've ever been, Starfire. It's all I know how to do. And, I'm scared that it isn't good enough for you. You've loved me and given of yourself expecting nothing in return, and I've thrown it all away. I haven't treated you well at all, and you don't deserve me, and I can't deal with that. I am only a hero."

"But Robin," Starfire said, "You are more then that to me."

_You say you'll give me eyes in a moon of blindness_

_A river in a time of dryness_

_A harbor in the tempest_

"You are a good person, and a good leader. You look out for those you care about, and you give your all to those you care about. You took in someone who did not know anything about your world, and opened up her eyes. You were a true friend to me, Robin. The truest one I know."

"I know that you are not perfect, but I do not care. The part of you that is bad makes the part of you that is good so much better. You do not need to be strong all of the time, Robin. We are all here for you. I am here for you."

_But all the promises we make_

_From the cradle to the grave_

_When all I want is you_

"When I look at you, I do not see Robin the hero. I see my Robin, the person that I love," Star said, beginning to tear up.

Robin looked up at her. "You are the only thing that I want in this world, Starfire. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I've acted. I'm sorry for the way I've treated you. I'm sorry for everyth…"

But he couldn't finish, for Starfire pulled him in and kissed him, and he returned it.

Beast Boy and Raven were still dancing to the song. Raven was frantically going over what was happening in her mind.

_I have to tell him that this cannot work,_ she thought._ I have to hurt him now to avoid hurting him later. He won't want to be with the real me, so why continue this?_

"Beast Boy," she said softly.

"What?" he said, still holding her in the dancing hug as the music rang out.

_You say you want your love to work out right_

_To last with me through the night_

Raven, fighting hard to put her walls back up, pulled herself away from the hug, though they were still dancing.

"I'm sorry Beast Boy," she said sadly.

He looked at her with a confused glance. "Why?" he asked.

_You say you want diamonds on a ring of gold_

_Your story to remain untold_

_Your love not to grow cold_

"I'm sorry, but this cannot happen. We cannot happen. You don't want to be with me, Beast Boy. I can't be fun, or exciting, or pretty, or anything that you would really want. I can't be like other girls. You don't want me, Beast Boy. So we may as well stop." And she looked down, hoping he would let her go.

_But all the promises we break_

_From the cradle to the grave_

_When all I want is you_

"Raven, you're nuts!" he said, causing her to look up. "I know I'm not the smartest guy around, but I know what I want. I think you are fun, I love being with you. I know that I said that you're always down, but I didn't mean it Rae. I can see it in your eyes that you really do care about all of us. I don't want some other girl. I want someone that's real, and that's you, Raven. You don't have to hide all the time, because I see the real you. The you that would die for your friends in a heartbeat. I see the you that makes me want to be better, because you deserve it. And I don't think you're pretty, Raven. I think you're beautiful. So don't try to be alone because you think that I don't know what I want. I know what I want, Raven. I want you!"

And every care of Raven's melted away in his eyes, and she leaned in and kissed him.

_All I want is you_

_All I want is you_

_All I want is you_

_All I want is you_

Raven had never felt happier. Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest at that moment. For the first time in her life, she felt _right_. But as soon as she felt happy, she also felt scared. She was scared of being vulnerable, of not being able to hide, and the fear took her over. She stopped kissing Beast Boy, and they stood there forehead to forehead.

"I'm sorry," was all she could say, and she broke away from him and ran to her room.

Beast Boy, his heart broken, merely stood there while the song ended, and his night ended.

It was late at night when Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg came back into the tower. They found Beast Boy sitting on the couch in the common room. All of the decorations had still been up.

"Wow, Beast Boy, the place looks great!" said Cyborg. "How did it go?"

Beast Boy made no reply.

"Beast Boy?" said Starfire, as they made their way over to their green friend.

He looked simply dead, and stared straight ahead.

"Oh no," said Cyborg.

"Beast Boy…" began Robin. "I'm sorry, man."

"Yeah," Beast Boy said weakly. "I am too." He then quietly left to go back to his room and try to find some sleep.

The other three remaining Titans had decided to clean up.

"Oh, I feel so sad for poor Beast Boy," said Starfire, as she took down the banner. "Robin, we must do something!"

"I wish we could Star," Robin said sadly. "I just don't think there's anything we can do."

"I feel terrible," said Cyborg. "I've never seen BB that upset before. I wonder how Raven's holding up?"

"I tried knocking on her door, but there was no answer," said Robin. "We can try again tomorrow, but we should let her have her space for now. I'm sure she's not happy either."

"Robin," Cyborg began. "What are we going to do? I mean…this might not be the right time to worry about this specifically, but…what if they don't talk to each other anymore? How is this going to work?"

"Cyborg," Robin said, sliding into the couch. "I really wish I knew. Hopefully it won't have to come to that. But honestly, I'm more worried about our two friends than the effect it'll have on the team." Cyborg actually smirked.

"Wow, you sure have grown a lot over the past week, Rob. You even have emotions now. I'm impressed."

"Better late than never, right?" Robin replied sadly, and sighed, deciding he may as well continue with the train of bad news. "Guys, I'm afraid I've got worse news, too."

"I think things are only going to get worse around here. I've been doing some research, trying to find out more about this Leon guy, and while I've been getting little as far as he's concerned, there are some really crazy things that are occurring in the entire world, and I think that Leon is tied into these events. And as bad as it is here, we might have even bigger problems to contend with."

"What kind of things are we talking about here?" asked Cyborg.

"Ecological disturbances. There have been coastal cities that have been just flooded out by massive storms, and there shouldn't be storms out there. There have been massive forest fires elsewhere in the world. Its been on an unprecedented scale; no one's ever seen anything like this. And other cities have been getting destroyed, flat out, similar to what's been occurring here. I have a feeling that Leon may be behind this."

"Why do you think so?" asked Cyborg.

"There have been some reports by the survivors of seeing a man floating within the storm at some of these cities," Robin said. "There was something he said the other day, too, about tearing this world apart piece by piece. And I've been going through it in my head, and I don't see how he could just suddenly destroy the world like that. So I'm wondering if this is how he's doing it."

"So, this Leon guy is going to destroy this world by unleashing freak disasters on everybody? No big doomsday device, no master plan like that?" asked Cyborg skeptically.

"Maybe, he is weakening Earth through these things to make it easier to destroy Earth?" Starfire asked. "It makes as much sense as any other theory we've got right now," said Robin.

"I put in a call to Bru…Batman," Robin continued. "This appears to be occurring on a global scale, and if so, the Justice League will be aware of it as well. I'm just hoping that tomorrow I'll hear back from him. If so, then we can figure out our next move."

"Oh, the Justice League, Robin?" asked Cyborg. "Do we really have to deal with them now, too?"

"I didn't want to Cy," Robin replied. "But I'm beginning to think this is far more than we can handle alone. We've got a crazy sorcerer on the loose who has incredible power that we can't find. And this is happening worldwide. I'm not inviting them into the tower, or to take over the Titans, or something like that if that's what you think," he said.

"But we need a better idea of what we're up against, and we don't have that right now. Things are crazy enough around here, and now this…"

"Man, this is when it's hard," said Cyborg, as he turned to head for his room. "We've already got enough shit going on here to worry about with our teammates and friends, and then this Leon guy kicks our asses and we don't know how to stop him. And now we'll have the Justice League breathing down our necks. I don't know if we can deal with much more going on around here," he said dejectedly as he went to go recharge for the night.

Starfire sat down next to Robin, and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I wish things didn't have to work out this way," he said. "Sometimes, I wish we didn't have to be the heroes."

"We all have to do things that we do not wish to, Robin," she replied. "We do them because we must. It is our duty. It is our honor. It is our place." Robin wrapped his arm around her.

"But I do wish that we did not always have to be the heroes, too," she said sadly.


	10. Until the End of the World

Thank you so much to all those who have been reading this story. I have had a lot of fun writing it. I am sad to say that it is coming to a close soon, so I thank you all. Hell, maybe I'll write another one after this. Just a reminder, that I don't own anything. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

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_Chapter 10: Until the End of the World_

"Robin…come in Robin…" said the voice over the tower's intercom.

It was the morning after, and Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire had gathered in the common room to nervously wait for this call. "Go ahead, Batman," said Robin.

"I checked up on that sorcerer of yours. I've been getting reports from the Justice League about someone of a similar appearance showing up, but these cases are all over the world. We've had people report in from Russia, China, Brazil, Berlin, London, Krakow, Istanbul, Sydney. I would have reported to you sooner, but I believe I met your friend a couple nights ago in Gotham. Goes by the name of Leon, correct?"

Robin gulped. This was what he had feared. "Yes, that's right."

"He appears to be striking in one of two ways. He targets areas where natural destruction can occur on a large scale, creating typhoons, hurricanes, rockslides, forest fires, just trying to cause more damage. By itself, these disasters are dangerous, but ultimately unable to affect the larger ecosystem. However, the number of these events, coupled with the frequency, could have disastrous consequences if they are not stopped."

"He has also been targeting major cities at random, seeking to cause as much destruction as possible. He has come face to face with a few of the League's own, but they have been no match for him single-handedly."

"Tell me about it," Robin quipped.

"This isn't good, Robin. This madman continues to randomly appear across the world, and there's no telling where he'll strike next. We can't be everywhere at once. The League has been talking, and is setting up a contact system, so that when he strikes, we all know."

Robin sighed. "And I guess you'll want us to contact you if anything happens here."

"You're catching on, Robin," said the voice over the intercom. "The League also told me that you are, as of now, officially off of this case."

"WHAT!!!" screamed Cyborg in the background.

"This is a dangerous sorcerer. We have no idea what he will do next, and the League cannot have a bunch of young kids running around trying to stop this guy. If you see him, you are supposed to contact me, and then let the League handle him."

Robin spat back. "You don't really think you can make us do this, do you?"

"I don't care what you do, Robin, remember? You are the head of your own team now. Do as you like. I am only telling you what the League has told me to tell you. But if he appears, you contact me _immediately_, understand?"

"Yes, Batman," Robin smirked. "You know, I think you're getting soft in your old age."

"Batman out." The intercom died. Robin laughed.

"Are we going to contact the Batman if Leon appears again?" Starfire asked.

"Yeah, I guess we'll have to," said Robin. "Old guy might have a heart attack if we don't. And we will probably need the help."

"Oh great," exclaimed Cyborg. "Don't tell me you're actually going to let the League handle this one? We've gotta make that man pay for what he did to my BABY!"

"Cyborg, who said we weren't going to fight?" Robin asked. Cyborg stuttered for a bit, clearly lost thinking about what happened to the T-car. "Um…uh…but wait a minute…you said…"

"I SAID I'll contact Batman if we spot him," Robin said. "But if the League thinks we're going to just sit back and let them handle it, they're wrong. In the meantime, we need to set up a network of our own. Let's start tracing radio and TV stations, and look out for any abnormal reports. If Leon's going to strike, we're going to need to be fast to catch him."

Cyborg nodded, glad that they were going to be in on the chase. "I'll start monitoring the radio frequencies using the tower's antenna. If I hear anything, I'll pump it through the sound system." And with that he ran off to get to work.

"Um…Star," Robin began. "Would you want to help me look for information, as well?"

Starfire looked elated. "YES! I would love to help, Robin!" And Robin smiled back as they made their way to his room to start searching for more signals.

It was almost as if they had forgotten about Beast Boy and Raven.

Raven certainly hadn't forgotten. She had cried throughout the night, only calming down after she realized that her crying had caused everything in her room to start spinning in a cyclone that her powers created. She barely got any sleep, and she still could not focus at all. All she could do was lay on her bed and stare at the ceiling.

_I broke his heart._

_He gave it to me. He's always given it to me, and I always turned it away. He always looked out for me, took a chance, but I always turned him down, and he seemed to be alright. But last night, he gave his heart to me. No strings attached. He said that he wanted ME. That he didn't care about the bad in me, he wanted ME._

_And I broke his heart. And now its too late. Now he'll never want me back._

She closed her eyes and tried to focus.

_Ok, Raven. This hurts now...a lot. But you'll get over it. Your emotions are not something that should be toyed with. It can be very dangerous. It's better that you hurt him now. Now he can get over it, and move on, and things can go back to the way they were. He can be the annoying, green shape shifter, and I can be the dark, cold, emotionless Goth. And everything will be just fine. Beast Boy is just...Beast Boy is...Beast Boy is..._

And two tears fell down her cheeks.

_Beast Boy is...the one that I love...and I let him go..._

Raven didn't notice, but even after all of the emotions that she had gone through over the past few days, nothing in her room got damaged this time.

Beast Boy was asleep, but only for an hour at a time. His night had been like this the entire time. He would be able to sleep, but then he would dream about her, about her running away from him, or turning him down, and he would wake up in a cold sweat, clinging to the bedsheets.

"Ugh…" he groaned sleepily. _I'm such an idiot._

He held his head in his hands, unable to get over the events of the previous night.

_I should have known that she wouldn't want to be with me. I mean, this is Raven. She can't stand my jokes, my attempts to make her laugh. She can't stand ME! And I wanted to be with her? How could I have been so stupid to think that she'd want anything like that. Jeez...all that work and it was wasted._

He sat up and tried to calm himself down.

_I've just got to let this go. Pretty soon, she'll be back to criticizing everything I do, and we'll all be back fighting criminals, and everything will be back to normal, and I'll be able to forget that I..._

He gulped as he tried to lie to himself, but it was to no avail.

_...that I love her..._

And in frustration he threw his pillow against the wall.

_But even that isn't good enough, I guess. Nothing I do is ever good enough for anyone! Not for my parents, not for the Doom Patrol, not for the team, not for Terra, not for Raven! I'm never going to be good enough...never..._

And he wearily tried to fall back to sleep.

KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Mhmmmmhhhmmmm!!!" replied Beast Boy, his head buried firmly in his pillow.

"BB? It's Cyborg. Can I come in?" the voice from beyond the door called.

The last thing Beast Boy wanted right now was to be bothered. _But I guess I can't just hide out in here forever, can I?_ And he walked over to the door and opened it up for Cyborg.

"Hey man," he began. "How are ya feeling, BB?"

"Wonderful," quipped Beast Boy, annoyance and lack of sleep present in his voice.

"Listen, I just wanted to let you in on what's going on," Cyborg continued, ignoring the sarcasm. "We're monitoring TV and radio broadcasts trying to find any sign of this Leon guy. As soon as we find him, Robin's going to contact Batman,"

"Fun," interjected Beast Boy.

Cyborg continued on. "And then we're going to go after him."

"Ok," said Beast Boy.

"So," began Cyborg. "I was just letting you know…if you don't want to come along then you don't have to…"

"Why wouldn't I come along?" quipped Beast Boy. "I can still fight, Cyborg. I'm still a part of this team damn it! And if we've got a job to do, then I'm going to do it!"

"Ok, I was just making sure," said Cyborg defensively. Beast Boy realized his mistake. "Look Cy…"

But Cyborg put up his hand and shook his head. "No, it's ok. You don't need to apologize. You've got enough on your plate right now. I know you didn't mean it."

Beast Boy nodded his head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Cyborg asked.

Beast Boy shook his head. "Not really…"

Cyborg nodded. "Ok then," and he turned to leave. "But you know we're always here for you if you need us. Just come find one of us, ok BB?"

Beast Boy nodded, and Cyborg walked down the hall. When the door to Beast Boy's room closed, he stood against it and slowly sunk down to the floor. _What am I going to do now?_ he asked himself as he held his head in his hands.

Cyborg continued to walk down the hall. "Well, the hard part's over," he said. "Now comes the harder part," as he approached Raven's room.

KNOCK

"Hey Raven? It's Cyborg. Can I come in?" he asked. He heard a faint reply behind the door.

"No."

"Oh," he began, dismayed already. "Um…well, ok. Look, um…Robin just wanted me to say that we're trying to find this Leon guy…and um…if we find him…we're going to go after him…so if you want to…I guess…we'll let everyone know when we find him and…we'll go after him."

Silence from behind the door.

"Ok, then," said Cyborg as he turned around and walked the other way. _Jeez, that could have gone better._

Raven laid on her bed still, tired, drained, and now annoyed. _Great. First I break Beast Boy's heart after fighting for the longest time. I'm sure Robin's freaking out wondering if the team is going to even stay together after all of this crap. Now we're on a wild goose chase for some crazy sorcerer. Things can't get any better..._ She sat in silence for a long time after Cyborg's announcement.

"How'd it go?" asked Robin, as Cyborg came into the leader's room.

"Well, I actually saw BB, so that was about as positive as it got," he said. "Raven did at least say something, so she's here, and alive, which I guess is good news. BB's pretty beaten up over the whole thing, and Raven doesn't seem like she even wants to deal with anyone."

"So," he continued, "with everyone in such a great mood, it seems like a good time for a good old fashioned sorcerer round up. How's it coming along?"

"Not well at all," said Starfire sadly. "We have looked at all kinds of data, but we are unable to find any reports that would be belonging to the Leon."

"We'll just have to keep on searching," said Robin. "I just wish there was something we could do for Beast Boy and Raven. But I don't like the idea of going into this fight down two team members. We will really need their help for this fight, but it doesn't even look like they're going to talk to anyone, much less leave their rooms, much less fight! ARGH!" he said in frustration, throwing a folder across the room.

"It just figures that all this shit has to happen at the same time!"

"Robin!" said Starfire, as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "We cannot help what has happened to Beast Boy and Raven. They are our friends! They are your friends!"

"I know Star," Robin said. "I know they're my friends. But so are you guys. And if this guy attacks, I don't know if just the three of us will be enough to handle it. It's not a matter of us not being strong enough, but Leon is incredibly powerful. We got beaten twice when we had the team together. We could get killed with only three of us. We need to have the team together, or else…"

"No, Robin!" exclaimed Cyborg, fearing his leader's answer.

Robin continued. "Or else we'll have to let the Justice League handle this…"

Cyborg sighed. "They'll fight Robin. I know BB and Raven, and they're heroes through and through. They won't leave us out to dry."

Robin looked up at Cyborg and smiled. "I hope so Cyborg."

"Um, Robin," began Starfire, as both boys turned to face her. "I believe that we might have found the Leon," and she pointed to one of the computer screens. They watched the live news report.

"_As you can see, powerful cyclones are just tearing through the forest. There is nothing stopping these storms, they are just cutting through the trees. I've been hearing reports that people have seen what appears to be a man FLYING amidst the storms, but we cannot confirm reports of that at this time."_

Cyborg checked the location and the coordinates. "It's close," he said. "Really close. Robin, what do you want to do?"

Robin looked grimly at the screen. "Let's get the team together."

KNOCK.

"MmmhmmmHmmmm!"

"Beast Boy! It's Robin! Open up!"

Slowly Beast Boy stumbled out of bed. Still unable to rest well, he found his way to the door and opened it up.

"What's happening?" he asked Robin, when he noticed Starfire and Cyborg standing behind their leader. "Oh…I take it you found where Leon is at?"

"I'm afraid so," said Robin. "Listen Beast Boy, I'm not going to pressure you into anything, ok?"

"You won't have to," said Beast Boy, who started to search his room for his shoes. "Let's go."

"Are you sure, Beast Boy?" asked Starfire.

"Yeah," he said. "I'm sure."

Robin nodded, and the team started heading down the hall.

"Is Raven coming?" Beast Boy asked.

"We're going to find out," said Cyborg. Beast Boy nodded.

KNOCK.

"Raven?" asked Robin. "Are you there?"

He didn't hear any response, but decided to press on anyway.

"Look Raven. We've found out where Leon is at, and we want to go after him, but we don't want to go without your help."

Still nothing.

"It's up to you Raven. I'm not going to force you into anything, and no one is looking to judge you for anything. But I'm not about to risk everyone else's lives if we aren't all together. We're a team Raven, but even more then that we're a team of friends. Either we all live together, or we all die together. So it's up to you. What do you want to do?"

There was still silence behind the door. Robin sighed, and turned to look at the rest of the team. But then they heard the door open.

There stood Raven. A bit disheveled, but otherwise appearing to be her usual self.

"Alright," said Robin. "Let's go Titans." And they started off towards the elevator.

However, when Raven saw Beast Boy, their eyes met for a second, pain clearly evident in both pairs of eyes. Beast Boy then turned away quickly from Raven. _It's too late, _she thought, and she continued to the elevator. Robin wanted to say something to try and inspire his team, but he knew he couldn't do it. They were together, but they were hurting. And silently, the leader hoped, and nearly prayed, for the first time in a long while…

That today they wouldn't have to die together.

Starfire and Raven took to the skies, where they'd be able to have the greatest vantage point. Robin took to the R-cycle, and Cyborg drove the T-car, with Beast Boy in shotgun. Neither Raven nor Beast Boy said anything to Starfire or Cyborg respectively during the trip. Thankfully, it didn't take long until they were out of the city. Soon after, Starfire caught a glimpse of the oncoming storms.

"Robin," she said over the intercom. "I believe I see the Leon and his cyclones!"

"Good eyes, Star," Robin said. "Titans, get ready for this. Leon is going down!"

They then stopped their vehicles, and the Titans started to make their way towards the sorcerer. Leon caught sight of them, and dissipated his storms.

"Well, Titans! We meet yet again," he sneered. "I am so sorry for leaving you so soon at our last encounter after…dropping in on you like that. I can guarantee that this time, there will be no such early departures!"

"Except for you, that is!" yelled Robin. "Titans, GO!"

Immediately, Starfire and Raven took off to the skies. Starfire started circling the sorcerer from the air like a vulture over its prey, and she began to hurl starbolts his way. The sorcerer was able to nimbly dodge the blasts; however, he was soon met by another threat: massive red oaks.

SMACK! went the tree into Leon. For Raven had used her powers to begin to hurl trees from the ground straight at the sorcerer. "Infernal caster!" yelled Leon, as a tree skimmed by his hair. He then proceeded to grab the next tree that came close to him and set it ablaze. "Let's see how you like it!" he yelled as he hurled the tree at Raven.

Luckily for her, Cyborg was able to blast it before it made contact with her. "Don't worry, Raven, I've got your back," he called out. She nodded her acknowledgement and gratitude, as they both turned their attention back towards the battle.

Beast Boy, meanwhile, had turned into a rhino, and rammed into the sorcerer when he tried to hit Raven with the tree, sending him flying. He continued charging after, with Robin in close pursuit. Leon was able to blast the rhino away; however, he was not so easily able to avoid Robin's freeze grenades, which pinned him to the ground.

"ARGH! What kind of sorcery is this?!?!" he yelled. But Robin had other ideas. "Cyborg, Starfire, NOW!"

At that, Cyborg shot his sonic cannon and Starfire aimed her eyebeams at the sorcerer, causing a massive explosion when the two connected. When the smoke cleared, Leon hesitantly stood up.

"Ugh! You Titans are drawing on my last nerve! You think you are strong! HA! You have no idea what strong really is!" The team noticed that the sky began to crackle with electrical energy. "I will show you just how grave a mistake you have made today! THIS DAY WILL BE YOUR LAST!!!" And with that he opened his mouth and let loose a torrent of electrical energy that sent Cyborg flying back. He crashed into a rock and didn't get up. The electricity had short circuited his systems, knocking him out.

"CYBORG!" yelled Robin, who now flew into battle with the sorcerer at full speed. Robin let loose a fury of his best punches and kicks that he could deliver, but it was in desperation. Robin just wanted to hit Leon, but Leon was able to avoid or block everything that Robin sent his way. "Insolate little fool," he remarked as he blasted Robin away.

"NO!!! ROBIN!!!" yelled Starfire, as now she and Raven began pelting the sorcerer with their energy attacks. Leon wasn't as able to dodge these as easily as he did earlier, but after firing off a round of starbolts, Starfire noticed that he suddenly was gone. She heard a sound behind her, and then suddenly she felt two very powerful arms trying to crush her in a bear hold grip.

"Come now, my dear," Leon taunted her. "Do you really believe that you have the strength to compete with me?" However, this only made Starfire angrier, and she soon burst out of his grasp and delivered a powerful blow to his head, which sent him flying to the ground. "Ugh…" he groaned as he picked himself up from the ground. He looked to the sky to find his foe, but then found her attending to Robin. Grinning to himself, the sorcerer started to gather up his energy to deliver a finishing blow to the happy couple. "You are indeed powerful, alien, but you are also foolish. Prepare to die!"

"NO YOU DON'T!" he heard a voice yell from above him, and soon the sorcerer was blasted by a ball of dark energy. He looked up to see Raven floating over him. "You have breathed your last!" he yelled, but then noticed that something was running towards him at breakneck speed. He looked to his right and saw that Beast Boy had changed into a charging elephant. However, Leon was ready for his aggressor, and used his magic to enhance his strength enough to grab Beast Boy and throw him to the ground.

"Beast Boy!" Raven yelled, but as soon as she turned her head away from Leon she heard a sound behind her. BAM! Leon's blow sent her racing towards the ground. She wearily looked up to see him preparing the blast he had intended for Robin and Starfire. "Do not worry my dear. For now, your suffering will END!" And with that, he sent a wave of energy at her.

Raven frantically tried to regain composure to begin chanting. "Azerath…Azerath…Met…"

There was a huge explosion, as the target of the blast went flying and landing far away. However, that target had changed.

"SHAPESHIFTER!!!" yelled the enraged Leon.

Raven gasped. _Beast...Boy..._

"NO!!! BEAST BOY!!!" Robin yelled, as he and Starfire began to try and fight against Leon again. Starfire flew faster than she ever had before, and delivered a punishing blow to the sorcerer, sending him cascading back down to earth. Robin then unleashed a series of attacks with his staff. However, Leon was quick to counter these attacks, and grabbed Robin's staff and flung him into the air, knocking Starfire back to the ground. He quickly prepared another might blast. "Two Titans down, only three left to go!!!"

However, his blast never got off, for Leon suddenly found himself encased in black energy. He then was thrown hundreds of feet into the air, and then thrown back down to the ground. When he finally stood up, he turned around and saw Raven.

Only, she had changed. Her cloak, which before had been a dark violet, was now shimmering white, and she was glowing. "YOU WILL NOT HARM ANYONE ELSE, EVER AGAIN!" she yelled, her voice now bellowing and powerful. Leon laughed. "You may sound intimidating, but you do not scare me, caster!" he yelled. He then sent a blast of energy her way. Only this time, Raven countered with her own.

"AZERATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!!!" she bellowed, as a massive blast of dark energy erupted from her hand, eclipsing Leon's blast and soon Leon himself. When the energy had subsided, Leon tried to stand.

"Wha…who are you??? How can you do this?!?!?!"

Raven walked slowly towards him. "I AM THE ONE WHOM YOU SHOULD MOST FEAR! I AM THE ONE WHO WILL STOP YOUR REIGN! YOU WILL NOT HARM ANOTHER LIVING BEING EVER AGAIN!!!" Her very words seemed to stop the sorcerer in his tracks. But he then suddenly became enraged.

"YOU? You think that you can stop ME?!?! I AM THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS!!! I AM THE MOST HOLY PROPHET!!! I HAVE COME TO BRING ORDER TO THIS UNIVERSE AND NOTHING WILL STOP ME FROM ACCOMPLISHING MY SACRED TASK!!! NOW DIE!!!" And with that, the sorcerer rushed to the shining Raven in a rage.

Unfortunately for the sorcerer, this is what Raven was planning on.

"AZERATH, METRION, ZINTHOS!" chanted Raven, and from her hands opened up a portal which began to suck in the sorcerer.

"No…no…NO!!! YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!!! YOU…CANNOT…DEFEAT...ME!!!!!!!" Leon was sucked into the portal, which Raven promptly sealed. She then fell to the ground, tired, and her white aura left her. However, her cloak remained white.

"Ugh," said Starfire, who was trying to recover from the ground. "Robin…Robin!" she yelled. "She has done it! We have defeated the Leon! He is gone!!!" she cheered.

Robin looked up. "We did it…we did it!!!" They made their way over to Raven.

"Oh Raven!" exclaimed Starfire. "You were most magnificent! You defeated the evil Leon and saved all of us!" But Starfire did not find any look of jubilee on Raven's face. Raven only looked up at her, and then turned her head.

"Beast Boy," she said, and then took off in full flight towards him.

Starfire, in her joy, had forgotten about Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Oh no! Robin!"

"I know Star," he said. "Come on, let's go find Cyborg. Batman will be here any minute and he can help us out."

Robin and Starfire made their way over to Cyborg, who was knocked unconscious. Robin found that his systems would need to be rebooted, but he would ultimately be fine.

The same, sadly, could not be said for Beast Boy.

When Robin and Starfire made their way over to him, they found Raven crying, holding his head in her hands.

"No…no…Beast Boy, wake up! Please…you have to wake up!" she cried.

Robin saw the Batplane coming into view, and looked down at his fallen friend. Beast Boy had taken the brunt of this blast. Half of his chest was burned, and he was bleeding profusely from his chest and his head. Worse still, he barely seemed to have any sign of a pulse or any breathing.

"Wake up, Beast Boy! Please…" Raven continued to cry.

"Robin…" said Batman, who just arrived on the scene. "What happened here?" he asked.

Robin did not take his eyes off of his friend. "Leon is gone," he said. "But Beast Boy got hurt really badly. He needs help."

Batman took a look at the green titan, and nodded. "I agree. We need to get him out of here." And he bent down to take Beast Boy away.

"NO!" yelled Raven, holding onto Beast Boy desperately. "You can't take him! I won't let you!"

"Young lady," said Batman impatiently, "if I don't take your friend he will DIE. Now let go." But Raven would still not release her grasp. It was only when Starfire put her hand on Raven's shoulder, that she relented, and let Batman carry Beast Boy away. Starfire then pulled her into a hug while Raven cried on her shoulder.

"Please, Beast Boy! Please…you have to be ok…please wake up!"


	11. With or Without You

Thanks to everyone yet again for reading this story. I hope you have enjoyed it, but sadly the time for this story is drawing to a close. I am beginning to come up with ideas for a continuation of this, so we shall see what comes of it. Is this truly the last chapter of this saga? You will have to read on and find out. I thank you again, and enjoy.

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_Chapter 11: With or Without You_

The aftermath of Leon's rampage on the planet was massive. Tens of thousands of people had perished, millions more had to be evacuated from their homes and towns. The damage to the environment was substantial. However, with time, it would be mended.

The battle that had raged between the sorcerer and the Titans ceased any other damage that Leon was causing at the time. Robin had called Batman before the fight began, alerting him to the location of the sorcerer. Unfortunately, the Justice League was also aware of where Leon was striking at, and needless to say, they were not happy with the Teen Titans' performance, and they were letting Robin know about it.

"You deliberately disobeyed an order from the Justice League!" yelled the Green Lantern over the tower's video screen. "We told you that we would handle it and for you to not get involved, and yet you did anyway! You could have all been killed, and you nearly lost two team members anyway!" Robin was about to speak up, but he was stopped before he could begin.

"It was my call, Lantern," said Batman, stepping in front of Robin. "I made the call. I let the Titans go."

"We know you did, Batman. We're holding you primarily responsible for letting this happen. How could you just allow a bunch of kids to run around and fight this guy?"

"They're not kids anymore, Lantern," said Batman. "I believe they just proved that they are heroes in their own right. They were willing to sacrifice everything they had to stop this madman, to protect their world. That is why I let them go, because the League was wrong on this one."

"The League was wrong?" yelled Green Lantern. "How can you say such a thing like that, Bruce?"

"Because, John," said Batman. "Last time I checked, _I_ held a higher position within the League then you did. I made the call, the Titans went, and they were able to defeat the sorcerer."

"Barely," said the Green Lantern. "They were lucky that one of their teammates was half mechanical and was able to survive the lightening strike, and their other teammate's out of commission…"

"BEAST BOY ISN'T DEAD!" yelled Robin from behind Batman. "Don't you say something like that! He isn't dead…" Batman calmly put his hand on Robin's shoulder. "Easy, Robin."

Green Lantern sighed. "Look, Robin. We're all sorry for what happened to him. But we've got to face facts. He took a hit that most of us wouldn't be able to come back from. We have no idea if he'll ever wake up. It's best that you all start preparing yourselves in case he doesn't."

Batman stared coldly into the eyes of the Green Lantern. For Batman may have had a tough exterior, but even he knew that now was not the time to talk of such things.

"You tell the League that Leon has been taken care of. Batman out."

"But wait…" But Lantern's face cut off of the video screen.

Robin was saddened further by the attitude that Green Lantern took to his friend, but he was even more dumbstruck by the way Batman had taken the fall and even _defended_ Robin.

"Thank…thank you," Robin finally said.

Batman merely looked at him. "There's nothing to thank me for. It was my call." He then headed towards the door.

"I'm heading back to Gotham, but sensors hooked up to your friend are sending data to my computers at home. So if anything happens, I'll know."

Robin nodded. "Thanks." Batman nodded back, and left the building. Robin then sighed. Sure, they had defeated the bad guy, and even had Batman stand up for them to the Justice League, but nothing felt right anymore.

Not with Beast Boy being in his condition.

The blast that he had taken wasn't meant to harm someone. It was meant to kill them. They had bandaged Beast Boy up well, and while he was severely burned and battered, he would eventually recover physically.

But mentally was another thing.

Beast Boy had lost a large amount of blood. Coupled with the grievous injuries, and Beast Boy had been in a coma for the past 4 days. He was breathing, and his vitals were functioning, but there was minimal brain activity, and they weren't sure if he would ever wake up, if he even would.

His room had been turned into an ER as soon as they had gotten him home. Cyborg was constantly watching over him, looking for signs of anything that would alert them that Beast Boy would be ok. Starfire was worried sick over Beast Boy, and would either spend her time in the room with him, or crying softly in Robin's arms. Robin was trying hard to keep his team together and be strong through this, but he was having a hard time doing so. He had never had to deal with something like this ever since his parents death, which was something he desperately did not want to relive.

And Raven did not leave her room since the team got back.

Beast Boy had not made any progress over the past few days, but his teammates still held onto hope. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg all made it a point to visit and sit with Beast Boy while he lay in his coma.

But Raven did not. She wasn't able to come to grips with what had happened.

_He's going to die. It's all my fault. There's nothing I can do about it. He's going to die. The others are holding onto hope, but I know there is none. He is going to die._

Raven stubbornly held back the tears that threatened to fall.

_I have to get used to this. I have to accept that he is going to die. All of this emotion will only bring me down even further...I have to let this go. I have to let this go. I have to let this go!_

Her bedroom window blew out in a burst of emotion. Raven sighed and laid down on her bed.

"Beast Boy…" Raven only wished he could hear her.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

However, for all intents and purposes, Beast Boy wasn't laying in his room, strapped up to all kinds of machines. Beast Boy had finally woken up, and found that everything was black.

"Ugh…wow, what happened?" he asked. He felt…different. Lighter almost, like he was floating. He saw that he was all still there, but it was like he was in a vast void of darkness. "Where is everyone?" he wondered, when he heard the great echo of the void. "What's going on?" he said, more panicked now. "Where am I? WHERE AM I?!?!"

Then suddenly he remembered.

"We were in the fight…and Raven got knocked down. That sorcerer was going to kill her…and I…dove in front of the blast…that was meant for her. I saved her…and now I'm here…" Realization finally took a hold of him.

He gulped. "Am I dead?"

"Do not think of it as being dead, Garfield. Think of it as truly being alive," said a voice behind him. It startled Beast Boy, but he swore that he had heard it a long time ago. He turned around to see who was standing before him. He was surprised to see two figures behind him, that looked so familiar to Beast Boy.

But they couldn't be who they looked like. Beast Boy's eyes grew wide, and tears started to form.

"Mom...Dad..."

Back in Beast Boy's room, Robin had entered to find a very tired Cyborg still trying to work efficiently. He had gone three days without recharging, but Robin knew how he felt. No one was sleeping in the tower these days.

"Cyborg," Robin began. "You should go get some rest."

"I'm fine," Cyborg curtly replied.

"Cy…"

"I said I'm FINE, Robin!" Cyborg yelled, throwing down his cup of coffee, which then shattered on the floor. Cyborg then sighed and yawned.

"I'm sorry, Robin. But what if something happens to Beast Boy?"

Robin nodded. "I'll sit in here with him. You should go get some rest. We've all got to be looking out for each other here." Cyborg gave a tired, grateful grin. "Thanks," he mumbled, and walked out of the room. Robin then pulled up a chair close to Beast Boy's bed and sat down. He sighed as he looked at Beast Boy's face.

"Beast Boy," he began. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you can. I just want you to know that…I'm sorry. I'm sorry all of this had to happen. If I was a better leader, maybe you'd be awake and we wouldn't be worried about you like this. I know I've never told you this, but…I've always thought of you as a brother, Beast Boy. What I wouldn't give just to have you up and talking again."

Beast Boy's body could give Robin no reply, as the machines continued to beep with his heart.

Beep. Beep.

Robin continued. "Everyone's been worried sick about you Beast Boy. Cyborg won't sleep. He'd practically trade the human part of him away to have you ok. I hope you know that even though we might have given you a lot of crap over the years, that we didn't mean it."

Beep. Beep.

"Starfire doesn't even know what to do. It seems like every time I see her now all she can do is cry, and it tears me up inside to see her hurt so badly. And there's nothing I can do for her either. It's funny Beast Boy. I'm supposed to be the leader of this team, and the leader should be strong. Should be able to keep everyone together. And I used to think you were the weakest one on this team. But I was wrong Beast Boy. I was the weak one. You were the one who kept us all together. I guess I can't do anything right at all."

Beep. Beep.

"But I think Raven's been hit the hardest by this most of all. She hasn't come out of her room in days. I wish she would, but I can at least comprehend why she won't. See, Beast Boy, I know that she loves you. When she saw you get hurt, she let loose all of her emotions under perfect control. She was the one who beat Leon, but she did it because of you. Beast Boy, if for no one else, come back for her, please?"

Beep. Beep.

Sadly, Beast Boy couldn't hear a word that Robin was saying. He was somewhere far away from his team right now.

"We've waited a long time to see you again, son," said Beast Boy's father. "We've been watching you grow up for quite some time now. You've turned into a fine young man."

"You were even willing to sacrifice your life for that young woman," remarked his mother. "You have become everything we could ever hope for in a son."

Beast Boy was struck by tears and awe, and ran up and hugged his parents for the first time in a long time. _They're real! I can feel them. They're real!!! This isn't a dream!!! _"I…I…I thought I would…never see you again…" he cried. After holding onto his parents for the longest time, Beast Boy finally broke away. "But I don't understand," he said. "If I'm dead, then is this heaven, or something?"

His father laughed. "Not exactly, son. Take a look below you."

Beast Boy did, and was surprised by what he saw.

"That's…that's me…" he whispered. For he was looking at his body lying on his bed in the tower, attached to all the machines.

"Yes," said his mother. "Right now you are looking back at your world. Your body is relatively well intact, but your spirit right now is in limbo. For the body cannot survive for long without a soul. Yours is simply waiting for you to make a decision."

"Hey, wait! There's Robin!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Robin was sitting next to his bed, saying something, but Beast Boy couldn't hear him. "Why…why can't I hear him?"

"Because," said his father, "you don't need to hear what he's telling you. At some level, you already know it. The only things that you would be able to hear at this point would be a truth that you weren't aware of beforehand."

Beast Boy looked up at his father with a confused expression. "Wait! Why is that?"

His father laughed again. "So that you may be well informed before making your decision, son."

Beast Boy nodded. "Ah, ok. Decision, got it."

The gears slowly started to turn in his head before he truly got it.

"Wait a minute! What decision?" he asked as he turned to look at his body again. Starfire had entered the room and stood beside Robin as he continued to say something. Beast Boy couldn't hear anything Starfire said either.

"Garfield," began his mother. "You have a very important choice to make. It will affect you forever. You may either choose to return to your friends and continue your life on Earth, or…"

"Or…" Beast Boy asked.

"Or…you can stay here…with us," his father finished.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

No matter what Robin said, that was all he ever received from Beast Boy, was the beeping of the machines.

"Robin," said Starfire, placing her hand on his shoulder, "Do not be so hard on yourself. You have done nothing wrong. You are strong now, for all of us. We must all be strong for Beast Boy, so that he may get well."

"Thanks Star," he said. "I just don't know if it is doing any good."

"I believe that it is, Robin," she simply said. "I should go talk to Raven. I think that maybe she should be talking to him as well."

Robin nodded. "Yeah, I think you probably should go check up on her." Starfire then left the room again.

Robin held his head in his hands. "Beast Boy…please just come back…"

KNOCK KNOCK.

"Raven? It is Starfire."

Starfire didn't hear anything from the other side of the door, but decided that this was not the time for Raven to be by herself. So she improvised, and simply tore the door off. She was surprised to see that Raven was still dressed in a white cloak.

Raven was more surprised at Starfire. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Star?" she asked. But Starfire merely came and sat on Raven's bed next to her.

"Raven," she began. "I know that you hurt, and that you blame yourself for what happened to Beast Boy."

"No, I don't…" began Raven.

"Do not lie to me, Raven. Now is not the time," Starfire interrupted her. "I know that you are hurting, but you must know that it is not your fault. Beast Boy did what he did because of who he is. Because he loves you Raven. You did nothing to harm him. The one who hurt him is gone now because of you. You have done nothing wrong."

Raven held her head down, eyes cast towards her feet.

"Furthermore," Starfire continued, "We are all hurting with you. We have all been in to see Beast Boy, and we have talked to him. Yet you have not, and you love him more than the rest of us."

"But I don't…" Raven began again, but she was again met with the eyes of Starfire. "Do not lie to me," she said. Unable to hold it in, Raven bowed her head as two tears fell down her cheeks.

"Ok…I love him…I love him Star…and it's killing me…what am I supposed to do?"

Starfire placed a hand on her grieving friend's shoulder. "I believe you should go talk to him." Raven could only ask, "Why?"

"On my planet," began Starfire, "We believe that when one is without spirit, as Beast Boy is now, he can still hear what needs to be heard. I believe that you should tell Beast Boy what you have not yet told him. It will do him good and you as well."

"But what if I don't know what to say, Star?"

"Say it anyway," Starfire said with a smile, then got up from the bed to leave. "While one still can."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"WHAT???" said Beast Boy, unable to believe what he was hearing. "So, you're telling me, that after all this time I finally see you again, and I have to choose between seeing you and going back and living?"

"You don't understand, son," said his mother. "You have been given a great gift. You have a choice. Anyone else would have been simply killed by the attack of that sorcerer, but because of your heroism, you have been given the chance to choose what you want. You have to power to shape your fate, Garfield, you may make of it what you will."

"We understand that this is not an easy decision," said his father, placing his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "You may take all the time you need to come to a decision."

"Now, wait a minute," said Beast Boy. "The reason that I can't hear what my friends are saying down there is because there's no unfinished business left between us, right?"

"That is correct, Garfield," said his mother.

Beast Boy began to think over it. Sure, he enjoyed living his life, but he had gone through so much pain. He loved his teammates, and if he chose to leave them they would hurt. But they would also be able to make it through the pain. Beast Boy had left no unfinished business for them, so he figured he could die right now with no regrets. And he could be able to finally be reunited with his parents after so long. And the choice was his to make. _After all I've been though, I could finally be happy,_ he thought.

He turned and looked at his parents. "You know…for so long I just wanted to be good enough for someone…I felt like I wasn't good enough for you."

"Oh, son!" said his father. "You have always been more than good enough. You're more than we could have ever hoped for. And we know that you're going to make the decision in this that is right for you."

Beast Boy smiled and started walking towards them. "Yeah, I think I am," he said. They started to walk off when he heard something.

"Beast Boy." He stopped. _It couldn't be..._ Beast Boy turned around and ran back to the spot he was at and looked down.

He saw Raven, sitting by his side on the bed.

Beep.

"Beast Boy," said Raven, trying to figure out just what she wanted to say to him. "I…I wanted to thank you…for saving my life. If you hadn't done…what you did…I'd be in that bed right now instead of you. So…thank you…"

She began to loose control though, and could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes. She reached onto the bed and grabbed one of his hands.

"But I would give anything to be the one in that bed right now instead of you, Beast Boy. You don't deserve to die. You're too good a person to leave us. We need you here Beast Boy. Who is Cyborg going to banter back and forth with about so many of your stupid topics? Who is going to keep Robin in check? Who's going to keep Starfire laughing when the rest of us are down? Who's going to…"

She had to take a deep breath, and then tried to continue.

"Who's going to…try and cheer me up whenever I'm down…and even though I never seemed to want it…it always helped…who's going to be the one there who…always wants to make me happy…no matter how misguided the attempt…who's going to…find the ways to make me smile when I try so hard not to…who's going to…be there when I need someone to confide in…when I need a shoulder to cry on…when I need…"

She tried to regain her composure a bit, and again continued on.

"And as much as you…might annoy me…Beast Boy…I just can't imagine…what not having you around…would be like…you're a part of me Beast Boy…and I'm sorry for when I…when I haven't treated you as well as you deserved…I never meant any of it Beast Boy…I never meant…"

Beep.

"Beast Boy…we need you…_I _need you…I love you Beast Boy…and I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before…" She wiped her tears away from her face. "And…I don't know if you can hear me…but I just thought that you should know…whether you come back or not…I just thought…that you should know…that I loved you Beast Boy." And she started to silently cry to herself.

Beep.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy was merely in shock. _She really does care about me. She said she LOVES me. She loves me..._ The sound of her tears made Beast Boy almost want to cry, too. He had to fight hard not to, as he stood up and turned back towards his parents.

"I always hoped…but I never realized…that she really felt that way," he said.

Beep.

His parents only smiled at him.

"But I mean, I've waited for ages to see you guys again. I still can't believe that I'm here, that after all this time, I can put an end to all of the pain that had been in my life. I can end it all, and finally just be happy. I've been wanting to see you guys again for as long as I've been alive."

Beep.

His parents only continued to smile at him.

"Whatever decision you make son, we know it will be the right one," his father said.

Beep.

"Follow your heart, Garfield," his mother said. "It will never lead you astray."

Beep.

Beast Boy nodded, and said, "I just want to finally go home."

Beep.

And his parents smiled, happy with the decision he had made, for they knew that it was the right one for him. They stretched out their hands, and took a hold of his, and led him to his destination.

Beep.

Raven sat, holding Beast Boy's hand in silence, when she heard a sudden sound that broke through the silence in the room. And try as she might, she would remember that sound for the rest of her life.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.


	12. One

Alright! This, truly is, the final chapter and the epilogue all rolled into one. I thank you all again for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it. I think I'm going to put a continuation up, once I'm able to start working on it, so we'll see. Thank you all again, and please enjoy!

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_Chapter 12: One_

Raven was sitting on top of the tower, watching the sunset quietly. Usually she would be meditating up here, but not today. Today she was remembering, all of those events that had driven their team to such a breaking point, that had brought Beast Boy and her close together, and the one that tore them apart. All of them seemed so long ago to her.

Raven remembered all of those days. They had changed her forever, although at the time she never would have believed it. She thought back to the moment when she heard the lifeline on Beast Boy end. It was the day that the lifeline on her heart ended, too.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

She had no idea what to do when she heard him flatline. It was as if one instant she held his life in her hand, and the next it was torn away from her. One moment, he was there, and the next, he was gone. There wasn't anything she could do but stand there, as the sound continued to ring in her ears, with her silent tears falling down her face.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Robin and Cyborg had rushed in when they heard the censors go off. Raven doesn't remember what they said. Only that they started rushing towards all of the computer screens in a desperate panic, hoping, praying, to find some way to stop the beep. Some way to bring their friend back.

They tried to get her out of the room, to get her to let go of Beast Boy's hand. But she couldn't. As long as she held onto his hand, she held onto him, and that was all of him that she had left. It was only after a long period of time, where Starfire told her something and held her, and led her out of the room, that Raven let go of him.

But her eyes never left his lifeless form.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Starfire led her outside the room to sit down, away from the noise. Starfire sat next to her, holding her hand. She remembered Starfire trying to comfort her, all while desperately trying to keep herself from crying. It was to no avail, as after a while Starfire began to cry. But Raven didn't cry. She couldn't.

All she thought was: _He's gone_.

All she could feel was shock. She was convinced that, despite his desperate condition, despite all of the convincing that she tried to fool herself into, that somehow, someway, Beast Boy would make it out of this alright. He'd wake up, give her that smile that caused her heart to stop beating, and everything would get on like it should. That they'd have their happy ending, like they deserved, and everything would be ok.

But now that would never happen. All of the hopes for the future, all of the possibilities, were gone. There was nothing left now.

All she could see was his face. Lying on his bed, without any signs of life. All she could remember was his face.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Robin and Cyborg were in Beast Boy's room for a long time. Too long. _They're wasting their time,_ she thought. Raven knew that he was gone; she had seen it when she saw his face. There was no coming back for Beast Boy from that, she had sadly admitted to herself.

_The sooner you admit it, the sooner you'll get over it,_ she said to herself, trying desperately to convince herself of the lessons she had learned as a child for dealing with her emotions. _He's gone._ She fought hard to maintain her composure, to not think back to all of the good memories, to stay hard within her emotions. _He's gone. There's nothing we can do. He's gone._

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

Raven shuddered at this thought, while she was sitting on the top of the tower. She looked back, and hated the fact that she couldn't cry.

"He had died," she said sadly. "And I couldn't shed a tear. I saw him go, I saw it happen, and I didn't do anything." She continued to remember what happened next. She didn't want to, the memories had been too much, but she knew that she needed to keep on going.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

When she saw Robin and Cyborg come out from Beast Boy's room, their faces were downcast. Raven wasn't surprised. She was sad that they had put so much time into this. She remembered that as soon as Starfire saw Robin coming, she ran up to him and broke down in his arms. She doesn't remember much of what was said, but what she does remember would be ingrained into her memory forever.

"He's not gone. Yet," said Cyborg.

Raven's heart nearly leapt out of her chest, only to fall back down to the pits of her despair. Beast Boy wasn't gone. But only by luck and the work of Robin and Cyborg to bring him back. He was even weaker than before, and they weren't sure if they lost him again if he would be able to come back. There wasn't anything else they could do for him now. _It was a miracle the first time_, she thought. _Next time, there won't be one. Now we have to sit and wait for him to die..._

They went back into his room together, to gather as a team. To prepare to mourn their friend.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Raven looked at his face. There was little change from before, and it almost looked like he wasn't really back at all. They all moved around his bed, but Raven held his hand. And all they could do was watch him. It was as if they were dying with him. Always a team, no matter what happened. Raven remembered that it was as Robin had said.

_Either we all live together or we all die together._

She doesn't remember how long they all stood around him like that, but she remembers that there wasn't a dry eye amongst the team. Starfire had already been crying, so for her it hadn't taken much to start anew. Cyborg, tired, and scared of losing his best friend, didn't last much longer after Starfire. Robin tried, really, really tried to be strong and not cry, but even ultimately their leader began to feel tears streaming down his face.

But Raven still couldn't cry. She had cried plenty before, but now, with the death of her friend, of Beast Boy, staring right back at her, she couldn't cry. She had taken down her walls numerous times in the previous days, but now she just couldn't do it. She had to place those walls back up, to block out the pain. _I can't feel this right now...I just can't..._

They all stood around his bed for a long time. It was long past nightfall, when they began to disperse. They didn't want to, but they were all tired. Starfire was falling asleep on Robin's shoulder, and so he took her to her room and went to his. Cyborg, soon left as well, though he would be ready should something happen again. But Raven did not leave. She sat there silently by his side throughout most of the night.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The sun was starting to disappear below the horizon now, and the stars were starting to come out, as Raven sat and continued to remember. She thought back to what she did next, as she gripped her white cloak.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

It was early in the morning. There were hints that the sun might come out, but she couldn't tell from looking out Beast Boy's window. _It's so beautiful,_ she thought,_ and he'll never see it. Never again._ Raven didn't quite know what had come over her, but there was something in that moment that cracked through the last wall she had up. And despite her worries about her emotions, and her powers, and her hurt, and everything else she hid behind, Raven firmly grasped Beast Boy's hand in hers and started to weep.

_I can't lose you! I can't! I can't do this anymore, Beast Boy! How can I let you go when we were just finally going to get this right? How can it all just end like this? How can you die without me being able to say that I love you!_

After a while, she managed to regain some kind of composure. She was actually surprised to find that nothing had been destroyed in her outburst of emotion. She couldn't figure out why, when it finally dawned on her.

She loved Beast Boy, an emotion she never truly had before, and because of that love, she had far greater control over her powers.

"Ha!" she sniffled, while still trying to dry her eyes. "It figures, I'm only my best when you're around, and now you're going to die. I can even control my powers because of you. You see, Beast Boy. I love you. You hear me? I said I love you! No more trying to hide it or be shy about it now…I love you! So you have to come back! Because…without you I don't know how…how I'm going to live. I need you in my life Beast Boy…I need you. Without you…I don't know how to continue on…" She pulled down the bar on his bed, and laid beside him, with her head on his heart, trying to listen for its beat, to give her some kind of sign that he's still alive.

She started to cry again as she held him. "I don't care…I don't care about anything else. Please…Beast Boy…please come back…I need you…I don't want to be in a world where you aren't there…we've known each other for so long…but it feels like only now…that I know you…so please," she said, as she moved her head over his, still holding his hand in hers. "Please…come back to me Beast Boy…it's not too late…please…come back home…"

And she leaned in, and hoping against hope, she kissed him.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Sitting on the tower, Raven started to silently cry.

_I always hate thinking about this next part. I always cry..._

No matter what she had tried to do, this next memory had burned itself deep into her psyche, and its effect was always the same. There wouldn't be any way she could stop her tears now, which was especially unfortunate, because she heard someone coming up the stairs. She could easily guess who it was.

"Hey Raven," she heard a voice from the door leading up to the roof. "Are you ok?"

She didn't turn towards the voice, but nodded. _It figures_.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

As she sat there kissing his nearly lifeless body, she silently prayed to herself. _Please...just let him wake up...please, just end this._ But when she got up, she looked at his face.

And there was no change.

_He's not going to come back. He's gone...he's gone..._ Raven sadly started to get off of Beast Boy. _There's no good in sitting here anymore,_ she thought. She started to leave, but something stopped her.

She couldn't get her hand away from Beast Boy's. She turned towards her hand, and she then saw way.

Beast Boy's hand was holding onto hers.

"Rae…" she heard a voice weakly call out, as her heart threatened to burst out of her chest. She looked up towards the bed where she was just laying at. And she saw him.

His eyes were half open, but he was looking at her. "No…" she began. "It can't be…" She started to walk towards the bed, tears threatening to form if this wasn't some complex hallucination her mind had concocted from her wide range of emotions tonight.

"Beast Boy…" she hesitantly asked.

He smiled, as much as his strength would allow. "Rae…" he quietly said, as he still held fast to her hand.

She picked up his hand with both of hers, sat down, and began to cry yet again. "You came back…you came back…" was all that she could say. They sat there for the longest time looking into each others' eyes, as Beast Boy slowly regained his strength, still holding Raven's hand. There was so much to say, but they didn't need to say it. They both knew. But Beast Boy decided that he had to tell Raven one thing. So, finally, he got up the strength to speak again.

"Thank you."

Raven looked surprised. "What for? You…you were the one who saved me, remember?" she asked.

Beast Boy shook his head. "I only did what you would have done for me. We're heroes, remember? We're friends. We look out for each other. But see, Raven, I had a choice. I was looking down here, and I could see everyone. And then, my p…they told me that I had a choice. I had a choice whether to come back here or not. And…I wasn't going to," he said, looking down.

"But then, I heard you. I saw everyone but I didn't hear anyone else. Except you, Rae. You brought me back here. You gave me a reason to want to come back. You brought me back home." Raven couldn't stop the tears of joy that fell from her eyes at this, and they continued to talk to each other until the morning came. The rest of the team was in for quite a surprise when the found Beast Boy awake.

Cyborg was so excited that he short-circuited, and they had to plug him back into the recharger to get him up and running again. Starfire nearly killed Beast Boy with a hug so massive it would have brought a building down. And even the Boy Wonder himself hugged Beast Boy, an act which raised the collective eyebrows of the rest of the team. But after all they had been through, it wasn't surprising. Many tears were shed, but this time, they were not of sorrow, but of joy. For Beast Boy had come back home.

After a long time, Beast Boy got up the courage to explain what had really happened to him while he was out, and the choice that he made. He told Raven all of it. She cried. And for once, nothing got destroyed in the process. At least, until Beast Boy made a smart crack, which got him a whack over the head, destroying a few brain cells.

It wasn't too long after that when things turned back to being normal. Or, at least, as normal as possible for a group of teenage superheroes. Robin was still somewhat OCB towards his villains, though he improved. Cyborg continued to work on his T-car and making improvements to the tower. Starfire grew an even stronger love for mustard. Beast Boy and Raven still fought, and still had arguments, although now the making up after the fight was much more enjoyable for the both of them.

But they had never truly forgotten what happened in those days. They grew stronger as a team because of what had happened. They learned to appreciate each other more. And even though they had since fought countless enemies, they had gotten much better at being friends as well as being teammates.

And there would always be one person who would never forget a second of what happened during that time.

Raven thought about what Robin had said while she sat on the tower. _Either we all live together or we all die together_. And it was the truth. _In the end,_ Raven thought, _we couldn't live without him. I couldn't live without him. So he came back._ She smiled as a few tears silently streaked down her face. She wiped them away and looked out into the sky, as the moon was coming out. _I love being here,_ she thought to herself.

It was then that she finally turned to acknowledge the voice on the roof with her. She smiled when she saw his face, though she already knew who it was. "Hey, Beast Boy."

"Hey Raven." But Beast Boy frowned when he saw her face. "Rae…you've been crying. What's wrong?"

Raven merely shook her head and smiled. "It's nothing, Beast Boy. I was…just remembering." Beast Boy came up and held her hands in his. "It's so hard to believe that was two years ago," she said.

Beast Boy nodded. "I know. It's funny how things have worked out, isn't it? All of this time passed. It's really like they say, 'the more things change the more they stay the same.'"

Raven rolled her eyes. "I really don't know anyone who says that Gar." Beast Boy cringed, though Raven couldn't tell if it was at her attempt to call him uncool, or at the use of the pet name that she had developed for him. He hated his name, but Raven loved it in the way that only she could. _Besides,_ she figured, _if he gets to call me Rae I should get to call him Gar._

"Well," began Beast Boy, "maybe you should find people who use it more often. I mean, look at us. Robin and Starfire are still together, something which boggles the imagination. Cyborg is finally not afraid to admit that he and Bumblebee are in a relationship; again, something which is just unbelievable. And we've somehow managed to stick it out, without you killing me yet, different as we are," he said as he flashed his toothy grin.

Raven pulled him into a hug and shook her head. "But it's been good." Beast Boy nodded. "We aren't the same, but we continue to carry on. We carry each other. We hold onto each other. And not just you and me, but all of us. That's what makes us strong. That's what makes us a team."

"That's what makes us a family," said Beast Boy, with Raven nodding on his shoulder.

"And that's why I had to come up here tonight. I had to remember those days. I had to remember when…you came back home. When everything changed. When I changed. When everything else really began. I can't forget that," she said as she held on tighter to him. "I love you, Gar."

He held onto her tighter, too. "I love you, Rae."

They stood out there under the stars for a while like that, when Beast Boy finally asked, "Do you want to go back inside? I'm sure the others are worrying by now."

Raven smirked. "I doubt it. They're probably spying on us." Beast Boy laughed. Besides, they can wait. There's something I want to do first…" And with that her eyes started to glow with power as she looked at Beast Boy, which made him stumble back in fear.

"Now, w-w-wait a minute, Raven! You know I don't like it when you do th-AAH!!!" he screamed as energy surrounded him and catapulted him into the air. Raven then gathered up her energy and flew off after her screaming green boyfriend, where they kissed in midair under the moon. Then they both fell into the cold water below. Beast Boy came up sputtering.

"You know I don't like it when you do that!" But Raven only gave him a playful glare, as they started to float back towards the Tower under her powers.

"Oh, it isn't that bad," she said. Beast Boy then wrapped his arms around her shoulders before smiling himself.

"No, it isn't, really."

THE END


End file.
